Ethics

Part One

This test is about thinking.  Please think through carefully and write out your answer in a logical way.  Address the issue from the perspective of personal, professional, organizational and legal ethical positions.   Type your answers please worth 1 point each.  No need to repeat the case, just number following the case numbers below.

This final exam is taken from Combating CorruptionEncouraging Ethics, published by ASPA.  The ethical vignettes were developed by the International City Management Association in cooperation with University Research Corporation. Answer each question yes or no. Then explain your answer in several paragraphs following each question.  Be sure to cite sources from the text, lectures or any other source you feel is appropriate. Analyze whether the ethical decision is one or more of the personal, professional, agency or legal types we have discussed in class. You will be graded on the quality of your explanation.  

1.  The board of directors of the chamber of commerce has an annual weekend outing at a resort some miles from your city.  During the weekend there is golf, tennis, swimming, card games, dinner dances with entertainment and numerous cocktail parties.  During the day, there are sessions at which the chamber board reviews progress for the past year and discusses plans for the coming year.  For several years the city has contributed 100,000 annually for support of the chamber. You are a council member or the city administrator and have been invited to the weekend outing with all expenses paid by the chamber.  Do you accept the invitation and go for the weekend  Yes___     No______   Your reason

No.
As a board member, I have a moral responsibility not to waste citizens hard earned tax paid money for my personal leisure.

2.  You have been asked to speak at a Sunday brunch meeting of the city council of another city some miles away.  They want you to tell them about your citys cost reduction program, in anticipation of a Proposition 13 type measure that is being proposed by citizens of their community. At the conclusion of your appearance, the chairman hands you an envelope containing an honorarium check for 250 and explains that This is in appreciation for your giving up your Sunday morning.  Would you accept the honorarium   Yes______  
No _______.  Your reason

Yes.
Since I have worked hard to prepare for the speech, I deserve the pay check for my time.

3.  For many years, you and Frank Jordan have been close friends.  You went to high school together and were college classmates.  You were best man at each others weddings.  Your wives are good friends.  For the past 10 years, Frank and his wife have taken you and your wife to dinner on your birthday.  It is just something he insists on doing and it has become something of a tradition.  He can well afford it.  Frank owns the largest plumbing supply business in the state and does more that 500,000 in business with the city. You are a council member and you chair the council committee, which oversees procurement contracts including plumbing supplies.  Your birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks.  Frank has called to remind you that he and Mrs. Jordan have a special treat for your birthday dinner this year.  He has made reservations at a fancy new restaurant that everyone is talking about. Do you accept Yes______   No_______.  Your reasons

Yes.
I do not mix business with friendship. Each in its own place. I know that Frank has been a friend even when I wasnt a city administrator. So it would be very uncivil of me to accept a token of friendship.

4.  For some time police officers on three adjacent beats have met each day for a coffee break at a restaurant near a point where the three beats intersect.  They usually have coffee and a donut and occasionally a piece of pie.  You are a police officer and just assigned to one of the beats.  When you go for the coffee break the first day, and you walk up to pay the check, the proprietor says No charge.  Im glad to have you officers around.  The other officers leave without paying.  Do you pay your check  Yes______  No _______  Your reasons
No.
I pay my check because I do not want to feel obligated for doing my duty as a police officer.

5.  Henry Settles has worked in your department for a long time.  He is conscientious, in fact, maybe too conscientious, in the view of many of his fellow workers.  He is always at work on time, always puts in all his hours, and works hard.  But he expects other to do the same and frequently complains about others who are tardy or who take long lunch hours or call in sick when almost everybody knows they are not sick.  You are head of the department, which employs Henry.  Recently, Henry reported to you that some employees of the department were using city automobiles to drive to pro football games in a city about 100 miles away.  You put a stop to that but Henry has been persona non grata with many of the employees of the department since he snitched on them.  Henry is a leading candidate for a new position in the department - one that would mean a promotion for him.  Do you promote Henry  Yes_____   No_______.    Your reasons

No.
Henry does not appear to be a team player. His promotion may lead to a lot of discontent among his colleagues.

6.  A new civic plaza is included in the plans to restore the downtown area of your city.  The bond issue for developing the plaza, which was passed three years ago, is already too little to assure completion of the project because of inflation.  A developer who wants to erect a high-rise building near the plaza offers to buy a large tract of undeveloped land in the plaza area and donate it to the city, as a trade-off for permission to construct his proposed building higher than the present zoning restrictions will permit.  He has privately made this offer to you, the city administrator, and it is up to you to decide whether to communicate the offer to the city council. Do you pass the offer to the council   Yes______  No_________   Your reasons

No.
It would be like giving in to the builders greedy intentions. The bonds can be acquired in other ways like collecting funds from the citizens to build the plaza.


7.  You are the city administrator.  A few days before Christmas, a package arrives at your office.  Inside is a card from the vice president of a large corporation in your city.  The company never has done any business with the city.  The card says,  You are doing a great job for our city and we just wanted you to know that we appreciate it.  We hope you will accept this token of our gratitude.   You open the package and find a beautiful crystal vase, which you estimate to be worth 75 to 100.  Do you accept the vase  Yes _______  No_____.    Your reasons

Yes.
I will accept it on behalf of the city office since the vase is a token of appreciation to the city office, it can be kept as a property for the office.

8.  Your favorite brand of scotch is Chivas Regal, but you dont buy it too often because it is so expensive.  You have told this to the liquor dealer from whom you buy your booze.  Its kind of a joke. Think rich and drink cheap, you sometimes remark when you buy a less expensive brand.   The liquor dealer gets in trouble for bookmaking and his license is in jeopardy.  You, as the city administrator, have nothing to do with the hearing on suspension of his license, but the next time you go to buy liquor, you discover when you get home the sack containing your liquor includes a fifth of Chivas Regal which you didnt order or pay for.  Do you keep the scotch  Yes____   No______.   Your reasons

No.
It seems like the liquor shop owner is trying to bribe me.

9.  A physician friend of yours asks if you would be interested in investing in a doctors building, which a group of physicians plan to erect in the city of which you are the administrator.  No decisions involving your job are expected as part of the investment  the doctor is simply selling shares in their venture.  I will be next to a shopping center in a rapidly growing part of town.  You stand to more than quadruple the 25,000 cost of your investment in a short time maybe make even more than that.  You have the money.  Would you invest in the doctors building  Yes_____   No_____.      Your reasons

Yes.
It appears to be a good investment and I will gain from it in a legal manner.

10.  You are a department head and Hazel Stevens is one of our most valuable employees.  She has worked for our for years and is the kind of worker you can depend upon to put in the extra time and effort when it is needed.  She is always there during a crisis and several times she has handled situations that would have been uncomfortable for you.  You really owe her a lot.   Recently, Hazel came to you and admitted that for some time, shed been borrowing  money from the petty cash fund, and writing false receipts to cover it.  It was never much usually 10 or 15, and she always repaid it.  But her conscience has bothered her so much that she had to confess.  Under the citys personnel policies, her action is cause for dismissal. Do you fire her  Yes_____  No________.   Your reasons

No.
I would give her another chance because she has confessed. Seeing her past record, I would give a warning and be wary in future.

Part Two

We have discussed several cases in class. The following cases ask you to assume the role of several of the characters in this case and suggest a course of action based on personal ethics, professional ethics, or the law.  Think Organize And write clearly.

In your books Ethics in City Hall and Ethics Case Studies by Thompson respond to the questions at the end of each case study AND respond to the following questions

Case Studies in Chapter 4, 8, 9, and 12, 14, and 15.

Keeping superfluous garbage to a minimum
State the problem(s).  A concise statement of the problem that gets at the core of the matter.(Chapter 4)

In the first case the City Manager, Bill Nelson faces charges of forgery and misrepresentation of facts. To get the job, Bill had forged his educational certificates. He did not hold any degrees but he had submitted certificates for two undergraduate and a post graduate degree.
In his second job, he had plagiarized the content of an award winning website to create another award winning website.

Alternative actions or solutions.  Do NOT detail workings of each solution.  Briefly consider the consequences of each alternative.  Identify the ethical implications i.e. this alternative is considered ethical under the following moral philosophies because and this same alternative is considered unethical under the following moral philosophies because

The city of Cannon Edge could have treated him more leniently and put him in another post.
Statement of preferred course of action.  Give your choice of the above alternative. Defend your choice and show why you discarded the other alternatives, remembering to include ethical implications.

As he had exemplary past records for 18 years, his experience was invaluable and he knew the city through and through.

State the problem(s).  A concise statement of the problem that gets at the core of the matter.(Chapter 8)

Hingle was a paranoid schizophrenic. His actions were not humanly normal. He killed his wife in cold blood after a fight. In this case, the 911 operator did not respond to the first call from Mrs. Carol Hingle  as it seemed more like a crank call. In the second instant, the dispatcher sent a team as soon as she received her son s SOS that his parents were fighting. When to judge whether a call is genuinely urgent or not is a human fallacy.

Alternative actions or solutions.
The 911 dispatcher could not be held responsible as she tried to respond to the calls as per their priorities. She could not understand the urgency in the first instance.

More men and machines are to be deployed so that each call can be verified. Or as soon as a call is generated neighbors can be alerted and data can be collected from them.
Statement of preferred course of action.

I prefer neighbor watches. In this instance as soon 911 got a call, they could have asked a neighbor or Mrs. Carol Hingles sister to check and disaster could have been avoided.

State the problem(s).  A concise statement of the problem that gets at the core of the matter.(Chapter 9)

In the Marion Wallingford case, Marion was let off too easily although she had plagiarized her report and earned a masters degree. Although she headed the Ethics committee, she copied the central idea and parts of a paper presented by her colleague. It earn a few kudos, she stooped to the lowest levels of plagiarism

Alternative actions or solutions.
Marion Wallingford was given a very light punishment. It appears that people in influential posts were let off more easily than those in the lower echelons of power. Since her husband enjoyed a lot of clout at the university she retired honorably after 5 years. I prefer an immediate termination of her services from the board.

Statement of preferred course of action.
In this case there is a moral ineptitude on the part of Marion not to abuse their power which has been vested on them by the city authorities. Since she was in a public position people had put their trust and faith in her and she had violated this faith.

State the problem(s).  A concise statement of the problem that gets at the core of the matter.(Chapter 12)

In the case of Bob Slauson and Tappan, the city officials had hidden facts and had covered one of their own officials from perjury and tardiness which had resulted in a major fire.

Alternative actions or solutions.

Slausons and Tappans exemplary work could not hide the fact that they had covered up facts. Lives could have been lost. As soon as it was discovered that Bob Eberbach, the building inspector had lied about the condition of the building, he should have been fired.
Statement of preferred course of action.

Bob Eberbach should have been fired to serve as a deterrent to future lazy workers. Negligence on the part of humans is the cause of accidents.

State the problem(s).  A concise statement of the problem that gets at the core of the matter.(Chapter 14)

In the case of Lt. Fife, the citys civil defense director, it is a case of sheer negligence on his part. He was lazy.

On the other extreme a go getter like Marion Meriwhether got the educational program up and running.

In the third case Anne Canturbury was a good worker who could easily retrench to another job. The question is how to identify a good worker, eliminate the bad ones and hold on to the good ones.
Alternative actions or solutions.

Warnings can be issued from time to time. Relocation to other departments may be helpful in certain cases.

Lazy employees can be fired from their posts if all other methods fail.

Statement of preferred course of action.

First issue warnings to lazy employees and if it fails, fire the lazy employees. To keep self motivated individuals, we should create all the requisite work conditions preferred by them. To stop attrition of employees, we should try to provide them with better sops.

State the problem(s).  A concise statement of the problem that gets at the core of the matter.(Chapter 15)

Since the City officials are in public positions people have put their trust and faith on these officials and they have violated this faith.

But all the cases highlight that every individual has human fallacies. While mistakes are human, criminal offences cannot be pardoned.

Alternative actions or solutions.
The solutions to every case of criminal offence relating to city officials should be given maximum punishment to act as a deterrent for all future offenders.

Statement of preferred course of action.
Although the punishment meted out to the offenders in the case studies seem to have been accepted by the people, I would go for more severe punishments. If those in power are not spared then it will install a higher level of trust in our democratic system.