It recently came to light that representatives from three watchdog agencies attended a national conference costing the state taxpayer almost $25,000. It is amazing how the budget crisis, and hindsight, can change our perceptions.
The employees of the State Elections Enforcement Commission, Office of State Ethics and Freedom of Information Commission didn’t break any rules by attending the annual conference of the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws or COGEL. Some of the state representatives are board members of COGEL and share their expertise with their national counterparts at this conference each year. In their defense, it’s likely that they made their plans to attend months in advance. But it is the perception created by the expense that is causing concern.
That’s because Connecticut faces an unprecedented budget crisis. The Governor has instituted a ban on out-of-state travel to curb expenditures of this nature but the watchdog agencies don’t fall under her authority – a fact which she’d like to change. Now the trip might bring gubernatorial oversight to independent agencies and change the dynamic of their missions.
So what do we see through the lens created by the fiscal crisis and hindsight? We discover that even those with the best intentions and expert knowledge in ethics laws can find themselves under the microscope of the media and political scrutiny when it comes to expenditures. It is not only the letter and spirit of the law that matter, but the competitive and political environment as well.
