Back in 2013, I wrote about the issue of the treatment of gifts under the state ethics laws, which in this respect are about the same as the city’s gift provisions.
Here’s what I wrote at that time.
I can see different sides on this question.
On the one hand, small gifts aren’t likely to corrupt, and are often just common sense courtesies, reflecting the local style of “don’t go visiting empty handed.” I would go further. If I invite someone else to lunch, I’ll usually pay. My idea, my treat. If the other person happens to be an elected representative, should that be different? I’m not at all sure.
On the other hand, there’s no question that those in the business of influencing legislative decisions–I’m talking about lobbyists here–aren’t simply being courteous. They are investing in relationships with the managers of legislative offices, key staffers, and elected officials. No smoking sushi here, but I’m sure they see gift-giving as a means to an end. The purpose is instrumental rather than expressive.
Gifts, even small ones, plant obligations on those who accept them. Whether you think that’s good or bad is a separate question, I suppose.
Do gifts influence decisions that public officials make? I don’t know. But I do think they do affect the decision-making process when used by lobbyists to increase access and influence.
Perhaps it’s not the gift itself, but the source and the meaning.
Perhaps there should be a ban on gifts of any kind from lobbyists. Period. No boxes of manapua or pastries. No lunches. No questions.
Others could still offer what the State Ethics Commission calls “Gifts of Aloha”.
And would that really make a difference when those same lobbyists could still deliver “gifts” of campaign support, whether in the form of contributions, volunteers, or “in-kind” donations of food or drink, as long as those gifts went to the campaign rather than to the office holder.
Is the attempt to strictly regulate gifts just tilting at windmills, a futile effort to control a visible but, in reality, minor source of political influence?
And don’t you suppose the gifts that really matter are the ones no one acknowledges, the “off the record,” behind the scenes transactions that aren’t reported on those gift disclosure forms?
I admit it. I’m as confused as anyone else about what’s the most reasonable way of protecting the integrity of public decision-making and guarding against undue influence (not all influence, which is impossible and undesirable, but undue or unwarranted influence).
See: “Hawaii Monitor: Is It Time for a Review of Political Gift-Giving?“, Civil Beat, June 12, 2013.
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How about the gift of a part-time board “job” that requires a couple of hours out of your day once a month and a six figure salary, more than your alleged full-time taxpayer funded job, to go along with it?
I work for the State. Throughout the year, we respond, we guide and we tell people what is the law. They are very grateful, claim we are life savers, n no one else was able to help them. During the holidays, lawyers, consultants and the general public like to share their gratitude with food, lots of food, basketfuls-cookies, cake, pastry, doughnuts, manapua, pans of noodle, chix katsu, bbq…. The look of hurt and shock on their face when you have to say thank you but no thank you is tough to swallow because the offer was truly a ‘gift of aloha.’ People have even cried when we are unable to accept their gift. Please grateful people, don’t be offended or sad. We appreciate your recognition of our public service and that is sufficient as we are doing our job. Call an old friend and enjoy the goodies… However, now food shows up anonymously…15 years ago, when there was no clear policy about this, I could scarf down a plate of food and desert from some consultant and still send them a correction notice the next day. Undue influence is up to the individual.
Kapu!, Aloha Gifts!
When I was the CIO for the city years ago, baskets of goodies would show up during the holidays. Sometimes there would be a card, sometimes not. Things at that time were not as clear cut as now so my direction was they went to the break room for staff to enjoy – after any card or identification was removed.
Seemed to work out okay.
In Hawaii, there are customary cultural gifts expressing the Aloha spirit which are given during the Christmas – New Year holiday season. In my experience, nobody’s building permit or zone change was ever approved because their firm provided Christmas cookies to the department that were shared by all the staff from janitors to directors.
However, the director of the state department who, several years ago, received a gift of a set of golf clubs and free admission to a golf tournament from somebody who was involved in negotiations with the department should have known better than to accept such a gift. He didn’t refuse the gift, and when it became known, he was fired.
The former City Ethics Director used to summarize the effective rule as follows: If the gift is such that a reasonable person would suspect that the recipient’s judgement and behavior toward the gift giver could be affected, don’t accept it or give it.