There is going to be an Ethics Commission, it is a certainty.

NM Common Cause, link, had their annual luncheon Saturday.
The topic was ethics reform in NM State Government.

The "panel" who made some opening and closing remarks,
mostly fielded questions from the audience.




Senator Peter Wirth, link, Senator Sander Rue, link, and Representative Eleanor Chavez, link, sit on the legislative sub-committee working on a bill to create an ethics commission, link.

There appeared to be consensus that whatever they do,
it is not going to be "incremental" change; it will be one of substance.

What will they come up with?

Will it be more of the same old, same old? Or will it be a model
worthy of emulation by every other state?

There really is no reason New Mexico cannot set the standard for ethics commissions. Do we not have the vision, the intellect, and the energy to do it right? The only thing stopping us is the will to do it right.

Truth telling is a fundamental ethic. Whatever ethics is, whatever ethics are, truth telling is fundamental. Truth telling is the most fundamental ethic of all. There is no code of ethics that does not include truth telling.

Our Ethics Commission will provide truth telling in government,
or it will provide nothing at all worthwhile.

The only reason there is even a question about what the ethics commission will look like, is because we are sitting around waiting to see what "they" will do; hoping this is the year that politicians and public servants, of their own volition, will finally hold themselves honestly and transparently accountable for their own conduct and competence.

New Mexicans are stakeholders in this decision. We have a right to participate meaningfully in decisions that affect our interests. We have a right to a seat at the table where decisions are made.

The terms of public service are the prerogative of the people,
not of the public servants. We should not be waiting for them
to tell us what are the terms of their in-servitude.

We need to fill our seat at the table where the ethics commission will be created.

If our Ethics Commission is not a model for the free world,
if it is yet another failed attempt to protect the public interests,
it will be because we sat back and did nothing; trusting them
to do it right, and without our guidance.




photo Mark Bralley