At yesterday’s Office of State Ethics Citizen’s Advisory Board meeting, members appointed a new Chair - Thomas Dooley - to take over the term of Kenneth Bernhard who resigned his position after coming under investigation for making political contributions, a prohibited activity for members of the Board. Mr. Dooley’s opening remarks about the “unusual and unsettling time” at the OSE was certainly on point but he and the rest of the members are moving ahead. With three vacancies on the board, they must have perfect attendance in order to function and await appointments from legislative leaders to fill the open seats.
Among the actions taken yesterday was the passage of an ethics policy specifically for Board members which would strictly prohibit them from participating in any political activitites. A similar concept is making its way through the legislature as a result of some controversy over an OSE Advisory Opinion which was approved by the Board relating to staff of the agency. The Board voted unanimously to pass this ethics policy.
Executive Director Carol Carson reported to the Board that their legislative proposal to codify and define grassroots activities, as a result of last year’s lawsuit by the Bridgeport Diocese, was denied a public hearing in the GAE Committee. Committee leadership has opted instead to convene a working group to delve into the issue. This, in effect, kills the bill until next session and leaves this area of the law full of ambiguity.
And finally, the Enforcement Division reported, among other things, that they will now be monitoring and reviewing lobbyist financial filings on a monthly basis as opposed to their previous practice of reviewing them quarterly. The Division reviews these reports to see if they have been filed on time, if they match the disclosed fees on the corresponding registrations and for any other overt errors and then pursue any corrective action with the registrants.
More news after next month’s meeting….
Tags: grassroots, lobbyists, Office of State Ethics, political activity
