City Manager Ensures Ethics Top Priority Following Tainted Audit

In light of recent findings from an audit that some Austin city employees padded their time sheets - in one case enough to double the salary - city manager Marc Ott sent a memo to Mayor Lee Leffingwell and members of the city council on the topic of ethics and integrity in the city work force.

As you know, I have personally made organizational and personal ethics and integrity a cornerstone of our approach to becoming a “best managed” city. In light of recent Audit findings relative to payroll records, I felt that it was important to provide you with an update on our progress.

As I’ve shared with you in our individual meetings, part of building an ethical culture is creating an environment where employees feel safe bringing their concerns forward, and giving them the confidence that any issue will be investigated and addressed once brought to light. We have several avenues for employees to do so, whether through their normal chain of command, our Human Resources Department, the Integrity Office or the City Auditor. This is a message that I’ve reinforced throughout the past two years, and it has been a core message of my seven “Straight Talk” sessions with city employees this year.

In the past year, we launched a citywide Integrity and Ethics training program designed to reach every City employee in two years. In conjunction with this, we conducted a full-day Ethics retreat with all City executives to reinforce the importance of the initiative. I’m proud to say that training has been completed by 98% of the employees targeted for the first phase of the program that began this spring.

In reference to specific issues raised in the past week regarding payroll processes, I assure you that we take any instances of fraud or abuse seriously, and are committed to addressing them swiftly and fairly. In terms of process controls, the Human Resources Department launched an initiative earlier this year to evaluate our current systems and develop a strategy for improving and upgrading our technologies.

With that said, I think it’s important to recognize that people are at the core of ethical decision-making. While technological upgrades may help us identify issues, any system is vulnerable to manipulation if someone is determined to do so. That’s why our sustained focus is on making sure that the people in our organization understand our expectations when it comes to ethics, that they feel safe to report possible violations, and that they understand the consequences of violating our contract of trust with the residents and taxpayers of Austin.

In an organization of nearly 12,000 employees, there will be unfortunate times where we have to address ethical lapses. The measure of our success will be that we handle them in an appropriate and transparent manner. I look forward to continued cooperation with the City Auditor in fostering a culture of trust and ethical decision-making for our organization.

Mayor Pro Tem Mike Martinez Investigated by Texas Ethics Commission

Austin Mayor Pro Tem Mike Martinez, who is likely the most recognizable member - aside from the Mayor, Lee Leffingwell - of the city council, is being investigated by the Texas Ethics Commission.  According to a statement from Martinez, several complaints have surfaced alleging misuse of money.  Monday, Martinez released a statement to The Austin Citysphere and said openness is the most important to him, and promised a look into the complaint and quick action.

"On June 24, 2010, I was informed of a complaint initiated by a private citizen with the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) alleging misreporting on several of my campaign finance reports," Martinez began in the statement.  "The TEC processes all sworn complaints from private citizens and asks elected officials for a response – regardless of the basis or motivations for the complaint.

"We are in the process of examining that complaint and will take appropriate action on or before July 30 – the date requested by the Commission. While I am disappointed that there were any discrepancies seen in my disclosure, I am pleased that out of the over 600 contributions we received during the course of our campaign, our analysis shows only one correction necessary at this time.  Transparency is of vital importance to me, and I take this allegation, as I would with any allegation, seriously," said Martinez.

Oysters: Vegan's Best Friend?

Next time you're at your favorite oyster bar, give yourself a pat on the back - you're probably eating one of the most sustainable foods in the world. In fact, Slate writer Christopher Cox suggests that even the strictest of vegans could include oysters in their diet without compromising their ethics.

Oysters, according to Cox, are farmed on a large scale - about 95 percent of all oysters consumed are farm-raised. Not only that, but some nonprofits are cultivating oysters to improve water quality. Cox points out that since so many oysters are farmed, the overfishing problem is nearly eliminated. Oysters require no cleared land, no fertilizer, and no feed - they eat plankton.

In fact, Cox writes, oysters may even have less impact on the environment than plants. On agricultural farms, bees are sometimes trucked in for pollinating plants, and many farms still use pesticides. And in contrast with other bivalves like clams and mussels, even wild oysters can be harvested without disrupting the life around them because they aren't dredged from the bottom of the sea. According to Cox, oysters lack a central nervous system and are unlikely to experience pain. They also don't move or respond to injury.

So whether you slurp oysters at a dive bar or an upscale restaurant like Perla's, you're enjoying ethical eating on the half-shell.

Find out where to get oysters in Austin!