Earning the Public Trust

While the vast majority of public officials are honest, well-intentioned, good people, it is relatively easy for a simple oversight or lack of consideration of the potential outside appearance which may give rise to public scrutiny of their actions. The public expects and deserves the highest degree of ethical conduct when it comes to government decision making. Without this "public trust," our planning and zoning boards and local legislative bodies would not have the confidence and support of the people. This would undermine the public purpose behind local land-use decision making, and further complicate what may already be difficult and controversial situations.

 

A. Conflicting Ethics for People with Expertise

One aspect of earning the public trust is the appointment of knowledgeable and interested people to serve on land-use decision making boards. It is not uncommon to find planners who work in neighboring localities, architects, engineers, lawyers, realtors, and builders interested in serving in such a capacity. On one hand, their professional expertise is desirable. On the other hand, the public needs to be certain that these same people, whose earning potential may be tied to land-use planning and zoning decisions, avoid conflicts of interest, decision making out of self-dealing, and even the appearance of impropriety. While these may prove to be (un)intentional disincentives to service, there are thousands of people on boards and legislative bodies who earn a living in a field related to land-use decision making, and questions of ethics are constantly on the horizon for them.