Crooked politicians and their money-filled bras and shady backdoor deals may become extinct when an ethics task force proposed by Governor Deval Patrick begins to enforce integrity in Massachusetts.’
Patrick announced he is assembling a special task force to review the state’s ethics laws and the conduct of state officials and lobbyists, according to an Oct. 31 press release from the governor’s office.
The governor’s announcement comes after several state officials became embroiled in corruption scandals earlier this year, most notably State Senator Dianne Wilkerson (D-Suffolk), who was arrested Oct. 28 on bribery charges, and resigned on Wednesday.
Ethics law reform and the formation of the task force, which will work over the next two months to compile a comprehensive report on officials’ conduct, are needed to move past these recent scandals, Patrick said at the press conference announcing the task force.
‘Whether true or false, [allegations of corruption] distract us from doing the people’s business,’ Patrick said. ‘Swift action on each of these measures is equally important to both move Massachusetts forward and regaining the public’s trust.’
Patrick said the majority of officials serving the state operate fully within the law, but the actions of a small number of officials, whose names he would not mention, have hampered the government’s effectiveness.
‘When a small few act out, it casts a shadow on the good work of those many good people, and it affects the government’s ability to function,’ he said. ‘That, I believe is where we are today.’
David Lyons, a professor of philosophy and law at Boston University, said the formation of this task force is a sign that the government recognizes that there is a problem with officials’ conduct.
‘It’s being done because there’s a judgment that public agencies aren’t taking care of things,’ he said. ‘It looks as if there is a legislature not monitoring their own activities. Novel measures need to be taken.’
Wilkerson’s arrest was ‘a deciding factor,’ in creating the task force, but other high profile corruption scandals played a large role in the decision as well, Lyons said. He also singled out suspicions surrounding Speaker of the House Salvatore DiMasi, who was accused of backing legislation and overseeing contracts that would benefit close friends earlier this year.
People’s faith in the government has been so rattled recently that this task force will do little to restore it, Lyons said.
‘I don’t think the naming of a task force can have more than a marginal effect on the attitudes people have about their government,’ he said.
Headed by Ben Clements, the governor’s Chief Legal Counsel, the task force will include four members from the legislature and eight other individuals with expertise in ethics and administrative investigation.
The task force will work with other government agencies to gather information on which changes in ethics laws would be most effective toward improving officials’ conduct, according to Massachusetts State Ethics Commission spokesman David Giannotti.
The executive director of the Ethics Commission is also meeting with members of the task force, Giannotti said.
‘We’re providing what information we have and working cooperatively with them to make sure they have access to what they need,’ he said.
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