I attended the Biennial Ethics Conference yesterday at the Legislative Office Building hosted by the General Assembly, the Office of State Ethics and the CT Humanities Council. The guest speakers were both previous NCSL leaders and past legislators, Peggy Kerns and John Adams Hurson. They led the audience of legislators, lobbyists and staff through an exercise that was particularly interesting. They asked each group to articulate the values that they considered to be most important to their profession. After listing many laudable values, the lobbying group ranked honesty and integrity as their top values. Legislators rated consistency and candor as most important. Staff ranked integrity tops as well.
Majority Leader Denise Merrill addressed the gathering and talked about the change in dynamic over the last 15 years in politics and the public’s view of the legislature. She talked about the loss of collegiality and bi-partisanship and the public’s mistrust of their public officials. As the group of lobbyists and legislators discussed case studies and ethical dilemmas, I considered her words and the strong values of honesty and integrity. They are not always easy to attain, and choices are not always black and white. But often the gut will tell you the right way to go, when the law isn’t clear. Connecticut’s ethics laws are particularly stringent but they can’t contemplate every sticky situation. Keeping the aspiration of honesty and integrity in mind, and remembering the public trust, we’re all able to make better choices.
Tags: CT Humanities Council, Denise Merrill, honesty, integrity, legislators, lobbyists, NCSL, Office of State Ethics
