Other Voices
Posting Date: February 3, 2010
No White-Washing of Crimes In Secretary of State’s Office
Last month, I served as the moderator of a blue ribbon panel on Ethics and Government Reform. Panel members included Cynthia Canary, director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform; Carol Marin, NBC Channel 5 political editor and Sun-Times columnist; Mike Lawrence, former director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale; and Andy Shaw, executive director of the Better Government Association.
During the panel’s discussion, I was struck by the consensus that changing a culture of corruption requires leaders committed to reform. Accountability, transparency and the ferreting out of unethical behavior is essential.
While the panel recognized the importance of strong laws, it agreed that the achievement of genuine reform cannot occur without changing the culture of institutions, which is best accomplished by the combined efforts of strong leaders, effective prosecutors, independent Inspectors General, the media and good government “watchdog” organizations.
Over the past decade I have served as the Inspector General for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, I have been the fortunate recipient of a strong and continued commitment from Secretary White, which has provided us the necessary independence and resources required to root out corruption, restore integrity and change the culture of an office that had fallen under a cloud of controversy.
My first order of business was to strengthen the Inspector General’s office through assembling a top-notch staff composed of attorneys, former FBI, DEA and Postal agents, experienced police officers and other investigators with specialized backgrounds.
Our inspectors maintain a high level of trust with employees by quickly responding to complaints, maintaining confidentiality and visiting facilities statewide.
In addition to investigators, we have a team of auditors evaluating policies and programs to identify systemic vulnerabilities and to offer constructive recommendations to the Audit Review Committee (ARC). The ARC consists of senior management who consider and act on the audit team’s recommendations, resulting in responsive action to prevent unethical behavior and to improve the efficiency and integrity of the office.
Other efforts to change the culture of the office included establishing a code of conduct for employees, setting strict fund-raising policies that prohibit employee contributions, and publishing the IG Report, a newsletter distributed to office employees several times a year to communicate new initiatives and investigation results that serve as a further deterrent to wrongdoing.
We have been successful in our ongoing efforts to change the culture of the Secretary of State, in part, because we have gained the trust and confidence of the employees and public.
But success is always a work in progress and is predicated on receiving the necessary cooperation from the leader of the office.
As the panel on Ethics and Government Reform made clear, reform is most effective when initiated from the top of the organization. Without Secretary White’s commitment to achieve meaningful reform, and the willing cooperation of the employees, our success would not have been possible.