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Thu, Jan 08 2009 

Published August 27, 2008 07:54 am -

Ethical raises?



During the last legislative session the Oklahoma Ethics Commission continually pounded the legislature for more funding, saying the agency was not able to do its job, investigate complaints properly, had aging equipment, and was virtually about to shut down. The Ethics Commission even threatened to sue the legislature for inadequate funding. The legislature in a tight budget year made an effort to help the Ethics Commission by giving an additional appropriation of $150,000.

How was the money spent? On new investigators? On updating the equipment or other dealing with the other concerns raised by the Commission? No. The Commission gave its top personnel 30 percent pay raises. In a year when teachers and state employees got nothing, the Ethics Commission Executive Director received a pay increase from $84,000 to $110,000.

The Commission lamely explains it away by saying that the executive director and top personnel were underpaid. Maybe so, but that’s not what the Commission said was the problem. At no time did the Commission indicate to the legislature or Governor that it was going to give 30 percent pay increases if it received any new funding.

It would seem that misleading the legislature would be cause for an investigation, but unfortunately there’s no one that can investigate the Ethics Commission. So the Ethics Commission’s actions of misleading the legislature will just have to be called what it is – unethical.



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