Under a Harp administration, retired building official Andy Rizzo would have to register as a lobbyist before he could seek zoning relief on behalf of a housing agency, and the city’s Board of Ethics would have more power to go after him if he lobbied improperly.
Mayoral candidate Toni Harp made that assertion Friday afternoon as she unveiled her “Ethics Reform Position Paper.” She announced a seven-part strategy aimed at improving accountability, transparency and efficiency in city government.
Harp also weighed in on a recent apparent breach of the city’s code of ethics: The case of Andy Rizzo.
Rizzo retired from his post as city building official in April. By June, he was lobbying the Board of Zoning Appeals on behalf of Mutual Housing, a client to his new consulting business. That action appears to have violated a law that bans lobbying by a former city employee for one year after his or her employment.
Asked how her ethics overhaul would address a situation like this, Harp said Rizzo would have been required to register as a lobbyist if he’s seeking relief for any project worth over $50,000.
“The board would recognize that there is a bright line between what it is that he used to do when he came to talk to them and what it is that he does now as someone who operates on behalf of an agency that is seeking relief from that body,” Harp said.
Rizzo would still be prohibited from lobbying the city for a year after his retirement, she said. And, she said, the city’s Board of Ethics wouldn’t have to wait for someone to file a complaint if it found out he was lobbying before that, as it does now.
“A complaint could be suggested,” she said. If board members read about or hear about any apparent violation, “it should be something that they look into.”
Harp said people would be more likely to make complaints anyway, under her new plan, because whistleblowers would be fully protected from retaliation.
Harps seven-point ethics reform plan includes:
• Regulation of lobbying and lobbyists: Lobbyists would be required to pay $300 and register as such and annually file information on their “compensation arrangement” with their client. They would have to file quarterly reports on their lobbying activity.
• Putting more information online about contracts, salaries, and ethics.
* Protecting whistleblowers from retaliation.
• Requiring ethics training for city employees every two years.
• Prohibiting officials and employees from using “nonpublic information” to benefit themselves or others. For instance, a City Hall staffer would be prohibited from tipping off a friend about an upcoming sale of city property.
• Giving the Board of Ethics independent enforcement powers and staff.
• Reforming the procurement process to ensure that city workers aren’t favoring people they’re connected to when it comes to contracts or purchases.
...but she doesn't see a conflict of interest in dealing, as mayor, with her own son's rental property companies.
I like this idea, but it's pretty rich to hear ethics stuff coming from Harp.
How about the fact that the current director of the Housing Authority of New Haven is serving in a key capacity on Harp's campaign team? Karen Dubois-Walton is HANH director, and as such is appointed by the mayor.
Is it ethical for her to have such a black and white, cut and dry, conflict of interest?
Or is that another matter in which Harp sees no conflict?