Extreme Ethics

1. Extreme Ethics Don’t let an ethics misstep get you tossed from the Island!

2. Survivor in the great northwest !!! Name your team Compete against other teams Winner: most creative, diabolical, ingenious solutions Extra credit: Creative Team Name Reference ICMA Code of Ethics Use your team colors

3. Case #1 Troll v Activist • Police Chief is rocking Twitter: good at using it to promote and inform; largest following; stays constructive, diplomatic and has a tough skin • Dogged by one follower @ToBeSelfEvident. “Chief’s a liar, incompetent, a dictator, and a liability to the city.” “Officers are a bunch of violent, racist bullies.” • Chief blocks@ToBeSelfEvident. Tweets were inaccurate, cruel, and a complete waste of my time.

4. Case #1 Troll v Activist • @ToBeSelfEvident calls 1st Amendment foul. • Mayor sides with @ToBeSelfEvident. Social media is the best way to connect with the public (plus I’m running for re-election) • Mayor’s message to the city administrator and department directors “Even if you receive cruel or racy comments on your social media accounts, do not block followers.” • Chief fires back “I have a rule. If someone regularly tweets cruel and nasty things that are fraught with misinformation, I will delete them, or block them. Why do I have to look at that crap?” • The city attorney opined that this is new territory for local governments and in this state, the police chief’s actions don’t violate the law.

5. Case #2 1st Amendment Rights • City is a promoter of bike trails • Group of city staffers regularly ride together as an informal team on the weekends • Group’s ride gets interrupted by President’s motorcade. • Joe, the Assistant City Manager, gave the motorcade “the finger”. A rider in the back, fast with a cellphone, caught it all on video. • Team laughed at the video over drinks at the end of the ride…just a minor expression of “bike rage”

6. Case #2 1st Amendment Rights • Video along with other pictures from the day gets posted to Facebook and riders get tagged • The image goes viral….words out that these were city staff members • Media is hot on this  • Chairman of the county Republican Party calls the Mayor…this will have repercussions for the city…“bad for legislative support” • Mayor is getting grief….demands that the CM punish Joe and the other staff members! “What were they thinking!! How could they be so rude to the President!!!”

7. Case #3 Healthy Holly • Sharon, County’s Director of Health, Housing and Human Service, is a health fanatic who has made it her mission to promote wellness in both her professional and personal orbits. • Selfless in sharing her healthy philosophy with others and volunteering in the community with organizations that share a similar mission. • The combination of work and volunteer activity has made her a well-known advocate for wellness in the community. • She wrote and self-published a book “Healthy Holly” designed to encourage kids to like healthy food and get more exercise.  

8. Case #3 Healthy Holly • Sharon donated a few copies to the local library. • She also approached the school board on her own time to get them to buy copies, but they declined. • Member of the local hospital board, where Sharon too serves as one of several county representatives, out of the blue suggests that the hospital buy the book! • Board approved purchasing $125,000 in books • Next an organization in the county where Sharon volunteers also decided to purchase the book for distribution: only $20,000 in books but planned to ask their donors to support the effort.

9. Case #4 #HikeforLife Carol loves to hike! The following email arrives in her personal email box. “We need your help. Today, President Trump is attempting to gut Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. His unilateral actions shrinking Bears Ears by 85 percent and Grand Staircase by 46 percent are completely out of touch with the values of Americans like you and the 99 percent of citizens who requested that national monuments be left as they are during the monument review process.”

10. Case #4 #HikeforLife “We cannot allow Bears Ears and Grand Staircase national monuments to be eviscerated. Will you please consider donating to the Trust’s National Monuments Defense Fund to help us contest this monumental error?   We continue to stand with the five tribes (Navajo, Hopi, Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Zuni) that are defending Bears Ears National Monument. Following the tribes’ lead, we will challenge in court President Trump’s illegal actions to slash Bears Ears. We will also challenge in court President Trump’s illegal action to diminish Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We will defend the Antiquities Act in the halls of Congress. And, we fully intend to win — on all fronts.”

11. Case #4 #HikeforLife “The president’s priorities are beyond misguided. Today he has torn down our natural and cultural heritage with his unprecedented attack on our national monuments. These monuments showcase exceptional cultural and natural values that are of vital significance to all Americans — including indigenous people who have fought for years to see them protected from looting, vandalism, fossil fuel development, and uranium mining. Today’s action represents the most drastic assault on protected public lands in American history. If left unchallenged we will lose Bears Ears National Monument. We will lose Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. And, make no mistake, we stand to lose many more monuments in the future.” .

12. Case #5 It’s Just Wine • Never-ending presidential election season! • Candidates from both parties are traveling the state, speaking, and meeting privately (or so it is reported) with a myriad of people. • There may even be fundraising taking place $$$. • The media speculates a high profile and well-regarded individual from the state is a potential but uncommitted. • Chamber of Commerce’s upcoming monthly meeting will be an evening wine and cheese reception. The guest speaker is our state’s “well regarded, non-committed, potential presidential candidate”. • All Chamber members have been invited to attend including the city and county managers and other local government staff who are members. The fee is $35. .

13. Case #6 No Secrets in City Hall • Professional Development is a big asset in your LG • $$$ abounds and it counts in your performance review. • You are psyched to head to Nashville for ICMA!! • While visiting the vendors exhibit hall, you toss your business card in as many of the “free drawing” opportunities that you can • You win the big drawing!! A 2019 Toyota Tacoma truck. • Vehicle arrives at your doorstep. Family confab results in the decision to sell it and put the proceeds into the your kids’ college fund. • Hearing rumors about this, the city manager calls you into her office. • You tell her the entire truth because after all, you haven’t done anything wrong. She begs to disagree!

14. Case #7 Ain’t No Sunshine When You’re Gone • Career coup lands you as the Assistant City Manager in a great place! • Innovative and fun people to work with and a city manager who has been a true mentor in your first role as an ACM. • How great? First-year anniversary comes and you are still thrilled to come to work every day. • Out of the blue comes a call that rocks your tranquil life. • The mayor from your hometown calls: looking for a new city manager and your name popped up • You take an “informational coffee” with the mayor to check it out • You are sold! Small place with great potential. Managing your hometown? What gets sweeter than that? • The mayor sets up more interviews and in the end they offer you the position. • All of this has taken place outside the public domain. • You come to terms on the employment agreement • Before the council vote, you tell your boss.

15. Case #7 Ain’t No Sunshine When You’re Gone Before the council vote, you tell your boss. He goes berserk! Gone is the supportive mentor who told you that someday you would make a great city manager. Now it’s just: “How could you do this to me?” “I recruited you with the idea that you would stay for five years and you agreed!” “I rely on you” “And by the way, did you think about the 2 year guideline in the ICMA Code of Ethics? I will be the first to file a complaint!”

16. Incident Pre-planning

17. Incident Pre-planning • Ethics Matter! • Training Resources • ICMA Webinars • ICMA Blog • Ask for advice • Front Page Test • Use Your Head!

18. Think It Through “It was like when you make a move in chess and just as you take your finger off the piece, you see the mistake you've made, and there's this panic because you don't know yet the scale of disaster you've left yourself open to.” -Kazuo Ishiguro

19. THANK YOU • Contact Us: • Martha Perego mperego@ICMA.org