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When the elections director in Miami-Dade County in Florida was asked to serve on the voting machine company advisory board that is now creating controversy here, he reached out to the county’s ethics commission for an advisory opinion.
The head of the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust promptly wrote back in 2005 indicating the county’s ethics ordinance does not permit employees to accept travel or travel expenses from county vendors, regardless of the purpose of the travel.
For the director to attend, the county would have to pay or reimburse the company — Election Systems & Software (ES&S) — for the travel unless the director wanted to seek county board of commissioner approval for a waiver of that requirement, the advisory said. It’s unclear which option then-director Lester Sola chose because he could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday at a different county department he now heads.
Linda McClosky Houck sent her Luzerne County Council colleagues a link to the Miami-Dade case this week to show how another county handled the same situation, saying the Florida county’s parameters are similar to those in this county’s ethics code.
McClosky Houck pointed to a Luzerne County code section that says employees cannot accept gifts, rewards or considerations — direct or indirect — from businesses having or seeking a financial relationship with the county.
Both a county-hired outside attorney and the state Auditor General are investigating Luzerne County Election Director Marisa Crispell’s two 2017 ES&S-funded advisory board trips to Las Vegas and Omaha, Nebraska, where the company is based.
Crispell has said her participation was cleared by county assistant solicitor Michael Butera and Administrative Services Division Head David Parsnik and that she stepped down from the advisory role in fall 2017 before the county sought proposals from companies interested in supplying the poll books in January 2018.
ES&S, which ended up receiving the $325,000 electronic poll book contract, covered travel, lodging for two nights and meals for the trips. The company had supplied the county’s electronic voting machines years before Crispell was hired.
Several council members have said Crispell should have informed them of her advisory board role before council voted on the poll books, with McClosky Houck stressing council pursued the purchase of poll books at Crispell’s recommendation.
Speaking during public comment at a council meeting this week, Kingston resident Brian Shiner said the election matter should be processed by the county ethics commission, which was set up under the customized home rule charter that took effect in 2012. He asserted the commission has become a “total joke” because its council-adopted procedures put initial complaint reviews in the hands of outside attorneys.
The county controller, district attorney, manager and two council-appointed citizens serve on the commission. A council committee plans to work on an ethics code revision.
Hazleton resident Mark Rabo told council he had attended a county-sponsored ethics training and recalls a state ethics commission representative telling attendees they should always seek an advisory opinion from the state commission if they are uncertain about a decision provided by their solicitor.
That second state opinion should have been sought in this situation, especially before council voted on the poll books, Rabo said.
“We need to have both transparency and accountability. Transparency without accountability is a toothless tiger,” Rabo said.
Crispell had said she was informed the trips were for a service and not considered a gift or income. However, she amended her statement of financial interest this week to report the cost of the trips.
County officials have taken an aggressive stance on the gift prohibition in the past, hanging signs in government office buildings as a reminder. Employees and officials have declined holiday gift baskets, meals, calendars, desk blotters, pens and temporary bus passes from outside parties.
In 2012, then-county manager Robert Lawton asked fellow county ethics commission members to consider offering advance advisory opinions on the gift issue and other inquiries so employees understand what can and can’t be done under the ethics code. When some commission members questioned the body’s authority to offer such advance guidance, Lawton instructed employees to reject all items that could be interpreted as gifts.