By Tom Fort
SNELLVILLE, Ga. | My wish for 2023 is for no more political officeholders to be revealed as corrupt.
Fort
One of my pet peeves about politicians is how many are shown to have used their public office for personal gain, whether financial “hand in the cookie jar” or otherwise. Embezzlement of public funds, abuse of power, cronyism, nepotism, bribery, extortion – political corruption undermines the integrity of democratic institutions, erodes trust in government, and can have negative consequences for economic development.
Here in Gwinnett, we have the corruption shenanigans of Commissioners Charles Bannister, Kevin Kenerly, and Shirley Lassiter and that left a stain on Gwinnett’s reputation.
Recent news about Gwinnett’s neighbors impacts the image of Gwinnett to outsiders :
- It’s not a good look that, just a couple of years after incorporation, the first and now former mayor of Stonecrest, Ga., its former senior economic development manager, and his wife, a bookkeeper, pleaded guilty to charges related to the theft of pandemic relief funds. (Was incorporation an intended path to have access to city funds? We’ll never know.)
- A former DeKalb County commissioner from Stone Mountain was convicted for extorting a subcontractor in connection with a $1.8 million contract, demanding monthly payments of $500 and later increasing her demand to $1,000 per month.
- A Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport vendor from Lilburn has been sentenced to more than one year in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to bribing a city official to win a contract. (The unnamed city official should have been charged as well but was not.)
- The Atlanta mayor’s office has had its share of bad public “servants.” One, in the 90s, drained city funds with cronyism and overseeing a culture of civic corruption. He was indicted by a federal grand jury for multiple bad action and convicted on three counts of tax evasion. A more recent mayor was investigated for corruption which led to several high-ranking members of the mayor’s administration being charged and so far, one conviction. This former City of Atlanta director of human services was sentenced to 14 years in prison for accepting approximately $3 million in bribe money to influence government contracts, money laundering, lying to the City of Atlanta to maintain her salary and cabinet-level position, and failing to disclose more than $600,000 in income on her federal tax return. The former mayor himself was never charged.
“Quid pro quo” or “a favor for a favor,” such as “I’ll vote for yours if you’ll vote for mine,” happens often in politics. It is not illegal unless it breaks the law by crossing the line into bribery (“Vote for the bill and I’ll pay you $1,000.”) Or extortion (“If you don’t vote against the bill, I’ll kick you off my committee.”)
I would like to see corruption addressed and prevented. Here are some thoughts on it:
- Strengthen oversight and accountability mechanisms, such as requiring independent audit agencies and anti-corruption commissions to investigate allegations of corruption and hold politicians accountable.
- Enhance transparency measures, such as public disclosure of financial interests and lobbying activities to ensure that politicians are not using their positions for personal gain.
- Similarly, enact codes of conduct and training programs to promote ethical behavior.
- Enhance penalties for corruption offenses and asset seizure provisions to deter corrupt behavior and hold politicians accountable for their actions.
Unfortunately, I fear all too many elected officials (politicians) think that enacting these reforms would go against their own self-interest.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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