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 Restoring public trust
by Tom Campbell
June 24, 2010
The biggest problem facing North Carolina today is trust. We don’t trust those in leadership positions in business, in our churches or in most any sector of life, but nowhere is that breach of trust more evident than in government. We don’t trust that public officials will do the right thing for the common good.
We are weary of reports of corruption, of elected officials who say one thing and do another, who give a wink and a nod while favoring special interests and who make every issue partisan and political. The truth is that the only way trust will be restored is for those in government to earn it, but they either don’t understand or are not willing to make the effort to repair that trust relationship.
An excellent example of that failure in effort was found this week in our State Senate’s so-called “major” proposals for ethics and campaign reform. Senate Majority Leader Martin Nesbitt boldly proclaimed, "The days of pay-to-play are over. This is all about good government and transparency. We think government works better when the public can see what's going on." But that’s the problem with our current group of legislators. This bill was crafted behind closed doors without public input. When do we get to see what’s going on?
Neither was this major reform legislation. While there are some good ideas in the proposal, there wasn’t nearly enough muscle in the bill to get anyone excited enough to champion it against opposition. The highlight appeared to be a provision to expand public financing of elections to additional Council of State races. At best, this provision is controversial but there is real concern whether it will indeed end pay-to-play. Democrats knew more public financing wouldn’t be acceptable to either Senate or House Republicans. One could speculate Democrats inserted the provision with hopes they could use it as a campaign issue come November, proclaiming Republicans oppose ethics and campaign reform. A robocall campaign, instituted by Americans for Prosperity, resulted in so many calls Democrats had to retreat and pull this “major” reform legislation within 48 hours of introduction.
Reforms are badly needed and our politicians know it. There have been enough reform proposals put forth that legislators could easily have some genuine public discussion about the issues. They have had ample time to show North Carolinians they are serious about trying to fix problems with unethical political leaders and with an election system where big money has corrupted the process.
Legislators can’t have it both ways. Either they are serious about wanting reforms or they are merely putting on a show. With mid-term elections in November and major statewide campaigns coming in 2012, we hope our lawmakers will choose wisely and make a more serious and more public effort than we saw this week. It is time to restore the public trust. |
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