Ethics Panel May Rise From Dead

Alan H. Bowie, Jr. and Adrienne Eckman are eager to get to work reviving New Haven’s Board of Ethics. They’ve passed the first hurdle toward getting the chance.

Mayor Justin Elicker has nominated the pair to serve on the often-MIA board. Monday night the Board of Alders’ Aldermanic Affairs Committee questioned the pair, then voted unanimously to recommend their confirmation to the full board, which makes the final decision.

Within New Haven’s alphabet soup of boards and commissions, the ethics panel is responsible for, according to its charter, ​“determining whether unethical conduct has been engaged in or is likely to be engaged in by any public official or municipal employee.”

But it has to meet to do that. Since 2013, the board has assembled 20 times — despite being scheduled for 95 meetings. 

And currently, the Board of Ethics has just two sitting members

In 2019, two thirds of the Board’s 18 meetings were canceled. In 2018, every single meeting was canceled. Since Jan. 2, 2020, the board has not
met at all because there ​“has been no committee,” according to mayoral spokesperson Gage Frank.

In remarks to the alders on Monday night, Bowie and Eckman emphasized their commitment to holding regular meetings and fulfilling the duties of the board’s charter.

Bowie, 29, who lives on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard, is an attorney at the firm Carmody Law and president of the George W. Crawford Black Bar Association. He was born and raised in New Haven.

Bowie said his grandfather’s experience as a longtime educator in New Haven helped instill in him a sense of civic duty. Bowie currently sits on the boards of Community Action Agency of New Haven and the Neighborhood Music School.

“Although this board doesn’t draw the same level of attention as some other boards, it’s essential to maintaining a level of integrity in New Haven,” Bowie remarked about the ethics panel. ​“This board’s decisions might not always appear in [the news], but they’re important, and it’s important for people to have faith in the city.” (Click here and here to read previous stories about the board’s work.)

Eckman, who lives on Chapel Street, is a program officer at the Connecticut Commission on Community Service. Eckman monitors AmeriCorps projects across the state to ensure they comply with guidelines. Eckman interned for the Connecticut Office of State Ethics in college, relevant experience which she said helped spark her interest.

“Throughout my career, I have seen that as programs stay with [ethical] standards, the quality increases,” said Eckman.

Eckman also said that now more than ever, it is important for the board to not just review ethical complaints when they are submitted by members of the public, but to actively seek out potential ethical violations itself to maintain the integrity of the city.

“Ethically, we’ve been in some rocky situations these past couple years,” said Eckman. ​“If citizens can really trust their elected officials, we’ll have a happier city.”

Voting in favor of the nomination of both candidates were Chair Alder Rosa Ferraro-Santana of Ward 13, Vice Chair Alder Evette Hamilton of Ward 24, Alder Evelyn Rodriguez of Ward 4, Alder Delphine Clyburn of Ward 20, and Alder Jill Marks of Ward 28. There were no votes cast against either nomination.