June 29, 2017

The Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) emphasizes the importance of ethics in the proper functioning of local government.  In fact, the GMA devotes an entire chapter of its Handbook for Mayors and City Council Members to ethics, conflicts of interest, and abuse of office.  The introduction to the ethics chapter provides an outstanding explanation of the public trusteeship of elected officials.  The first word of this chapter is trust, because the key element in good governance is trust between elected officials and their constituents.  Milton’s own City Attorney has emphasized that trust in government is much more important than government efficiency.  Unfortunately, here in Milton, we have seen the public trust broken on many occasions and in many ways.  I have written extensively about these violations of the public trust.  I believe that Milton’s elected officials need to engage in some serious self-reflection on the issue of ethics and its importance in establishing trust with citizens.  A good first step might be to read the introduction to the chapter on Ethics in GMA’s Handbook for Mayors and City Council Members.  It is provided here in its entirety.  I believe this excerpt should be taped on the City Council dais before each Council Member.  And I believe all informed citizens should read this passage to remind us that we need to set high standards for our elected officials and hold them accountable if they do not meet those high standards.

Trust is the key word that describes the appropriate relationship between a local government’s elected officials, other public officials, and their constituency. An elected official serves only as a result of the trust which the majority of the electorate have exhibited by electing that individual to office. The Georgia Constitution stresses the standards applicable to public officers in this way:

All government, of right, originates with the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole. Public officers are trustees and servants of the people and are at all times amenable to them.

Two roles for public officers are established by this constitutional language. First the public officer is a trustee of the people. Trusteeship is perhaps the highest calling that one can be granted under the law. As trustees, public officers have a fiduciary relationship with their constituents. A fiduciary holds something of value, which he or she does not own, and is charged with managing the valuable item for the sole purpose of benefiting the beneficiary of the trust. Elected officers are entrusted with the power to govern and to manage public property, with the public as beneficiaries of that trust.  A public officer’s goal should be to further the public good, not to improve the standing of the public officer, except that the officer may share in the benefit as a member of the public at large.

The second idea suggested by the constitutional provision is that the public officer is a servant of the people. A servant cannot exist without a master. The constitution establishes the public as masters and public officers as servants who are charged with responding to the needs and wishes of the master. 

To read the entire chapter on ethics in GMA’s Handbook for Mayors and City Council Members, click the following link.

GMA Handbook Chapter on Ethics

Tim Becker