The Alabama Ethics Commission met last week to hear testimony in regard to allegations against Alabama Governor Robert Bentley. It was found that there is a strong likelihood he violated Alabama’s ethics and campaign finance laws. If Bentley is found guilty, he could face the rest of his life in jail plus having to pay massive fines.
This is not governor Robert Bently’s first unethical rodeo, in fact he is still fighting problems stemming from his personal and working relationships with a former member of his staff. While everyone seems pleased that the governor is being brought to justice, there is also anger at what the State of Alabama has been put through over the last 18 months.
Why did he “possibly” dip into state funds? Because he had to fight off accusations of a sexual affair and theft of funds while he was behaving inappropriately with his staffer.
Improper Use of Funds
Robert Bentley improperly used campaign contributions to pay for his legal bills. Therefore, he allegedly compounded the guilt of his previous ethics violations by stealing. In all of the legalize that normally surrounds these cases the lawyers are making the distinction between probable misuse of state funds and possible misuse of state funds. One apparently has to tread lightly when bringing charges against Robert Bentley – a governor.
If the charges do stick, they will include using state property and resources to pursue an affair with the staffer, the staffer failing to register as a lobbyist and the governor diverting funds to help cover the staffer’s legal expenses. Though it is relevant to “only” the issue of character, it is worth noting that while the governor was supposedly having the affair, he was playing dutiful husband and indeed, he had been married for nearly 50 years at the time. The cherry atop the cupcake, is that governor has also been under scrutiny for the exorbitant expenses he ran up in refurbishing the governor’s mansion.
Whether the case being brought against Alabama Governor Robert Bentley will eventually lead to him getting put away for life – or a lesser period, is secondary to how all of these ethics violations came about.
The Green Light
It could be argued that the governor of any state is the state’s most powerful elected official. He or she is at the pinnacle of executive power, no more or less than the owner of a sports franchise or the CEO of a powerful pharmaceutical company.
However, as every CEO or even franchise owner knows, there are ethical and professional checks and balances. The owner of a football franchise is under scrutiny from the league, other owners and sometimes, an executive board. The CEO of a pharmaceutical company is answerable to the shareholders, SEC and numerous state and federal agencies.
Why then, wouldn’t a governor be answerable for his or her behavior? In the State of Alabama, apparently, there was a green light given to the head politician in terms of its tepid oversight. It is not that Governor Robert Bentley was given a free pass (he was eventually found out), but that his unethical behavior was tolerated for as long as it was. The Governor of Alabama is, after all, answerable to every citizen in the state. It is not his (or her) private club to run.
As a keynote speaker and lecturer on the topic of ethics, I am often shocked (but sadly, never surprised) by the lack of checks and balances on our elected officials. It is not just at the highest level, but in some places, it filters down to local municipalities. All too often, citizens and even other elected officials don’t hold their leaders accountable. In the vacuum created by a lack of accountability, poor ethics often follows.
The moment the governor decided to take advantage of the rules, there needed to be ethical oversight well in place to call it out. Whether it was a matter of spending millions for a new balcony or money being diverted to a staffer, some entity needed to ask questions.
Ethically, whether we are Democrats, Republicans or somewhere in-between, we get the kind of government we deserve. If we forget ethics, we forget the very essence of our democracy.
Hello All – Dr. Ben Carson also said, “We will get the president we deserve.” Well – I’m not so sure about that. We the people at least deserve a decent choice. Whether it’s a governor or the president doesn’t much matter, we should still be able to choose people that we know to be honest, hard working men and women that will represent the people.
As a nation, we don’t do that anymore. We are lazy and apathetic, content to watch our favorite “news” channel. As Frank Zappa noted, “The news channels are the entertainment branch of the government.” He had it exactly right! The system is broken, and rigged in favor of the select few insiders “they” throw out there for us to “vote” for!
It’s all nonsense, and when a politician gets “caught,” you can bet it’s not because s/he was found out. This goes on all the time. He didn’t play by someone’s rules and the favor was returned. The system is broken – totally, and has been since Thomas Jefferson first warned us about what was to come.
I hope they ALL get what THEY deserve!
BJL in Cleveland O