July 12, 2004

Reform proposals sought from Ethics Commission members

By The Associated Press

The West Virginia Ethics Commission plans to pre-empt any possible campaign to pressure the Legislature to tinker with its rules or dismantle it during next year’s regular session.

“We should have an agenda, if you will,” Executive Director Lou Brewer told commission members during their meeting this month.

Brewer wants the 11 members — there is one vacancy on the panel — to begin developing proposals to offer lawmakers, given recent criticisms.

“If we perceive we need to change to improve the ethical climate in West Virginia, we want what your thoughts are as to what needs to be changed,” Brewer said. “If you don’t want it fixed, then I assume you believe it is not broken.”

The commission has come under fire most recently for its handling of a pair of complaints against House Education Chairman Jerry Mezzatesta, D-Hampshire. The commission reviewed and then dismissed allegations that Mezzatesta had sought a $70,000 state grant for his employer, the Hampshire County Board of Education, and was receiving his county pay while serving in the Legislature.

Mezzatesta had promised the commission in 1999 that he would not solicit grants from “any state agency” when he started his county job. The commission has been asked to reconsider the grant-related complaint. Mezzatesta filed a sworn statement to respond to both complaints and stands by his conduct.

The commission has fielded its share of criticism in the 15 years since lawmakers created it after a lengthy campaign for a governmental watchdog. A recent newspaper review found that of 243 complaints received since 1989, the commission has issued a public reprimand, a fine, or both in only 25 cases.

The commission also sets ethical guidelines in other ways. At their July meeting, for instance, members concluded that a county school board could not hire its superintendent to fill a vacant principal’s position.

The county and the official were not identified in the advisory opinion, in keeping with commission policy. Commission staff initially advised to allow the hiring. Commission members disagreed.

“I think she needs to resign and apply to her successor for a recommendation,” said the Rev. Jim Shepherd of Raleigh County.

Commission Chairman John Charnock echoed Shepherd’s view, as did a major of the present members. “There’s a clear appearance of impropriety,” he said.

Charnock has questioned his staff’s recommendations before. In one memorable December incident reported by The Charleston Gazette, Charnock rejected the draft opinion requested by a Northern Panhandle legislator. The lawmaker, employed by a racetrack, sought to introduce legislation setting up a county election to legalize table games at the racetrack.

“In this instance, it’s so clear it even hits someone with trifocals like myself in the face,” Charnock said of the conflict of interest.

Charnock’s final term on the commission expired in June. He remains involved pending a new appointment by Gov. Bob Wise. He stands by the commission and its process.

“The Ethics Act has good purposes,” Charnock, a Republican, said during a recent interview. “It has been well-served by the people who have served on the commission.”

The give-and-take between the commission and its staff this month and in December reflect an evolution of sorts, Charnock said.

“I think the pendulum has swung where the majority finds that an appearance of impropriety is sufficient to hold something unethical,” he said.

Charnock said he plans to take up Brewer on his call for proposals, as do others on the commission. At the July meeting, member Brad Crosier of Kanawha County suggested that legislators revisit state laws governing “double-dipping,” the practice targeted in one of the dismissed complaints against Mezzatesta. The commission had interpreted the statutes as written to conclude he had done nothing wrong.

“That’s definitely one of the things that will be on my agenda,” Crosier said.

Charnock predicted that the commission will propose several measures addressing perceived loopholes in the state’s ethics laws. He said these statutes, which can appear ambiguous or even contradictory, lead to the recent public criticisms of the commission’s work.

“People don’t understand the function of the commission and they don’t know what our legal authority is,” Charnock said. “That’s where the law needs to be generally strengthened.”