Office of State Ethics Chairman Kenneth Bernhard admitted wrongdoing last week when he was found to have made contributions to Governor Rell and a couple of State House candidates back in 2008. Because he was already serving as a board member of the watchdog agency beginning in January of 2008 and made the donations in October of that year, he violated a ban which prohibits those very contributions. The irony is that it is the Office of State Ethics which enforces the ban. Mr. Bernhard stated he would submit to whatever fine his agency imposes but said that he wasn’t aware of the rule when he made the political donations. If he wasn’t aware, his spider sense probably should have told him to ask one of the lawyers on staff. Just this past December the agency debated whether or not members of the board or employees of the OSE would be able under the law to volunteer for political campaigns. Clearly volunteering does not rise to the same level as donating financially.
In other OSE news, the agency is busy getting underway with the 2010 legislative session. Attorneys have submitted their grassroots language and hope to have it taken up by the GAE committee for a public hearing soon. That committee is also holding a public hearing today on SB 289, AN ACT CONCERNING THE ONLINE SUBMISSION AND POSTING OF STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL INTERESTS, which would require that the state publish online the statements of financial interest filed by public officials. Some members of the Citizens Board of the Office of State Ethics expressed concern during their meeting last week about publishing such personal information on the web but were reminded that it is public information under statute already. It is available on paper at the OSE offices but is not available online. Would making such data available online be more dangerous?
Tags: contribution, grassroots, Office of State Ethics, statement of financial interest
