Editor,
Ethics reform should be an important issue in the upcoming election if it meets certain criteria. The idea of ethics reform would have to be in a state of controversy, a vital or unsettled matter, under discussion or in dispute. So, it would seem that ethics reform is an issue.
Why then doesn't it feel like an election issue? It doesn't feel like an issue because there is no debate. One would assume that if there were disagreement over a vital issue there would be debate. Yet there isn't. Why not?
Let's look at the sides. We can safely assume that a majority of voters support ethics reform in public service. We can also safely assume that a majority of public servants oppose ethics reform.
If public servants supported ethical reform or raising accountability to a higher standard, they would have provided it a long time ago. That they have not provided for it is proof that they do not support it. Ethics reform is not a new idea. It has been considered and rejected before.
But still, there is no debate. Why not? It is fair to say that those who support ethical reform would eagerly debate it, but it takes two to tango. Those who oppose ethical reform will not debate because they cannot support their side. A lack of ethical reform serves no purpose but the selfish interests of those who benefit from it. Were they to argue against ethical reform, it would be the forfeit of their political careers. So, they simply choose not to debate.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
It is a prerogative of power that one does not have to answer inconvenient questions. The more powerful you are, the more important the questions you can ignore. The combined weight of all public servants who oppose honest accountability and a higher standard of conduct is more than enough to suppress a relative handful of upset voters.
There is only one mechanism that is capable of consistently uniting the powerless: the media. Yet the media is conspicuously absent. Sure, it covers the salacious scandals, advocates change and disingenuously urges voters to somehow demand ethical reform, but it doesn't and won't insist that those who oppose ethical reform defend their position.
The Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education has decided that it will not be held accountable to a higher standard of conduct. It made the decision without public input or debate. It now refuses to explain or defend itself. It refuses even to admit that it has made it. The decision is relevant to the election of board members and referendums on tax issues. The issue is relevant. It is germane. It is a case on point, and it has not been reported by the media.
Is it as simple as the fact that the president of the board, Paula Maes, is the president of the New Mexico Broadcasters Association? Can one person cast that large a shadow? The Albuquerque Journal and Tribune offer no alternative explanation.
Ethical reform in public service should be an issue in upcoming elections. But it will not be, because the media has decided that it will not be. And because it is not an issue, there will be cosmetic change at best. Nothing will change.
Ched MacQuigg
Daily Lobo reader
