Dr. William T. O’Hara, president emeritus of Bryant College, suspects that while lessons have been learned, a scandal similar to the one that occurred at Enron will inevitably happen again.
Maybe not next year, or the year after that. But soon enough.
It is a sad commentary, but Dr. O’Hara is right. Not long after an issue exits the front page, it begins to fade.
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Dr. O’Hara, speaking at a panel discussion that this newspaper sponsored last week on business ethics, called for businesses in all industries to institute programs or policies that address ethics. It is a subject, he said, that needs to be addressed – not only when a national scandal brings it to the forefront – but on a day-to-day basis.
During the same panel discussion, former Attorney General Arlene Violet, a talk radio host at WHJJ 920, chastised the audience – and the state’s business community as a whole – for all too often turning a deaf ear to issues of ethics.
“The silence is deafening from the business community on the ethical problems we have here in the state of Rhode Island,” said Violet. “The overwhelming majority of people in business here – the Chambers of Commerce – they are so afraid of offending a politician.”
Violet’s comments were sharp. They were meant to leave an impression – and they did. Businesspeople could brush them off. But they shouldn’t. Rather, they should accept them as an important reminder to get involved.
Look at the Legislature.
Will the 2004 legislative session be remembered for health care reform initiatives or tax relief? Not unless the next six weeks brings a sudden shift. No, the 2004 legislative session will be marked by an ethics scandal that saw the Senate president resign before the session got started and another Senate leader resign midway through the session. And what was their downfall? Possible conflicts of interests in the way of ties to businesses here.
Is that a fair representation of the true relationship between politicians and businesses in Rhode Island?
H. Philip West Jr., executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, was a part of the same ethics discussion last week.
He too put out a challenge to the business community. Business leaders, he said, must do more with their educated backgrounds and their experiences. They need, said West, to become a bigger part of the system.
At the State House, said West, the pro-labor lobbyists are there every day in big numbers, “and they don’t give an inch.” At the same time, the business community is “virtually invisible.”
That needs to change.
And this just might be a good time for that change to take place.
With Separation of Powers legislation expected to be adopted into law before the current legislative session concludes, no fewer than 70 state agencies and boards will be looking to fill vacancies as elected officials are forced to step down from them.
We encourage you to take West’s advice. Consider putting your name in to serve on a state agency or board. It would be time well spent.
And you can bet that those veteran lobbyists who spend so much time at the State House – many of whom support issues and policies that are not good for your business – will be making a push to get on those same boards and gain greater influence than they already have.
