| ETHICS AND AMERICAN GOVERNMENT Kickbacks, sleaze factors, revolving doors, secret bank accounts, phantom payrolls the aspiring shorthand of today’s newspaper heplines suggests that American government has bees beset by 2 veri table plague of dishonesty, corrupt, and malfen, sance. Between “this-scam* and fthatgate” itis little wonder that citizens’ confidehge and trust in government has plummeted over tht past 20 years. How much distrust is actually whlranted i difc cult to know, a8 bribes, payofts, 44d other illicit behaviors are, by their nature, fhhtve. Though unethical behavior in government! undoubtedly occurs—and likely always will, filing basic change in human nature—much of What appears to bbe a wholesale decline in public mepaliy ie recent yeas is probably more a function of fhanged public {expectations and heightened vigilante by the press and prosecutors than areal withering of our cellec. tive rectitude. It may also be notdd, with some irony, that this apparent epidemid of unethical bbohavior has mostly involved elect officals snd their political appointees. With latively. few exceptions ti mils cf men and omen oes fecent years have been on the rechiving end of Politically motivated “bureaucrat basting” continue '0 do their jobs with honesty and integrity This does not mean that we cafsity forget about questions of administrative ethits, Even if we have not sunk into a national morall quagmire of historic proportions and even if admin}strators over ail are an unusually honorable fot, thefe are at least three good reasons ta pay attention to dthical issues First, we owe ito ourselves as citizens a republic. {0 insist on exemplary conduct by ouf public off. Cials; “relatively good” or *no worsel than uswal” istrative Eth 99) Exercise 6 ics ‘Ought not to be considered acceptable when assess. {ng the moral compasses of our political and admin. strative leaders. Second, even well-meaning public Officials need guidance; clear-cut cases of theft and bribery excepted, there are very few simple “thou shalt” and “thou shalt not” rules in this arena Finally, thinking systematically about ethics in gov. ernment necessarily involves thinking about the vole of government in society, and that is a useful and healthy thing to do. WHAT ARE ETHICS? The word ethics derives from ethos, the Greek term {or the particular character or dispastion ofa people, society culture In contemporary English usage, t ‘fers, at least in the context that concerns us, to moral rules. To say that an act is ethical, therefore, {0 say that itis morally defensible. in general, we make determinations about the morality of an act by holding it up to a general standard such a "Taking the life of another human being is wrong’ or "You should never tell lie.” Some ofthese standards may be codified in civil or criminal law, in which case everyone in society is requited to observe them Other ethical standards may be rooted in general Social mores, violations of which lead to dsapproba- tion but not legal penalty. in American society, for instance, itis widely considered unethical to ake advantage of someone in a business transaction, even when doing so is not strictly illegal, til other ethical standards may pertain only to spacific social 8rOups; in some religious and moral traditions, for example, its thought to be unethical to slaughter animals for food in other than a prescribed manne, ‘while others disdain eating meat akogether100 Publie Management Such group-specific ethies hay also evolved in ‘many established professions and pecupations such as law, medicine, and journalism] Legal ethics, for instance, proscribe attorneys frm representing someone involved in an adversfrial proceeding ‘with an individual who is already a client of that atiomey. Medical ethics guide phypicians’ decisions ‘on administering life-prolonging dugs to terminally ill patients. Professional ethics forbid journalists from revealing confidential news Fources. In cases such as these, whatever sanctiofs there may be against violators of professional ethics are levied, at least in the first instance, by the prpiession ise Note that ethics and law afe not identical Although our public laws are, af feast in theory, derived from general moral stanflards in sociely, many questions of ethics remfin beyond the ppurviow ofthe law, as clearly they fnust ina liberal, tolerant polity, This is an important point to remem: ber, for in a society as law-orienfed as ours, itis Unfortunately easy to conclude, lite wrongly, that if something is legal, it must be dthical, Bear this ‘warning in mind as you work thro¥gh the case pre- sented later in this exercise. WHAT ARE ADMINISTRATIVE ETHICS? When a highway administrator wards a paving contract in return for $10,000 in fall, unmarked bills, most of us would agree that/he has behaved unethically. So, too, would we think it unethicat when th decor ofa ate eninge! agency puts her patently unqualified brotferin-law on the payroll for an essentially “no-show job, uses public funds to build a new deck on her shimmer home, or runs up a fortune in personal overfeas calls on the office phone. These are easy caseh, Involving at a minimum bribery theft, and nepotifm. But how about the highway agministrator wha accepts an unpaid speaking engagdment before the monthly dinner meeting of the|local Highway Contractors Association, which reifaburses him for his carfare and feeds him chicken|a la king? What about the agency director who hifes her patently qualified brother-in-law for a real Job, uses public funds to cater a party at her summe} home fora vis iting delegation of foreign environfnental official, cor charges the monthly rental on fer cellular car phone, which she uses primarily for public busi- ness, 10 her office account? These cases are less clear; certainly there appears to be no outright bribery or corruption involved. Any evaluation of the probity of these actions will probably start out ‘with “Wel, it depends. ...” What are the agency rules about free meals from contractors? Was the brother-in-law the most qualified applicant? Was the catered party @ matter of official business? Even answers to questions like these do not always provide clear resolutions of ethical dilem- ‘mas in the public service. Knowing what is ethical is not always easy. To be ethical is to do the right thing. But what isthe right thing? As with law, med- icine, and other professions, public administration has developed ethical guidelines to help its practi tioners deal with questions of this sort. One such set of guidelines is the code of ethics adopted by the “American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) in 1981 (see box). As one would expect, the stan- dards in this code stress the primacy of law, the importance of sound management, and the need to avoid conflicts of interest. The emphasis clearly reflects the traditional values of the profession and its historic sense of itself as a value-ree instrument of public policy. Yet ASPAs code also makes pointed references to concepts like “justice.” “equity,” “conscience, and "moral ambiguities" and gives a prominent place to the idea that public servants are responsi- bile ultimately to the people, This suggests that eth cal administrators sometimes have fo make moral choices for themselves, that they cannot view them: selves simply as ordertaking technicians. And therein lies the major tension that underlies any dis cussion of ethies in publi administration. How can a public administrator know what to do when ethi- cal action is premised on both (1) subservience to the law and (2) a sense of individual conscience? What happens when obedience to those in lawfully authoritative positions requires actions that conflict with one’s own reasoned estimate of the demands of equity justice, and the public interest? This is not simply a hypothetical academic ‘quandary. It isa dilemma that vitually all adminis: Irators face at one time or another. What, for exam- ple, should the social worker do who believes deeply that public assistance programs for poor children are woefully inadequate but is bound by departmental regulations to report that a welfare mother has been earning $30 a week babysitting?Adeninistative Ethics tor A Chdo of Ethics for Public Administration The American Society for Pyblic Admin- istration exists to advance the J cesses, and art of public adm Society affirms its responsibility spirit of professionalism witht ship, and to increase public moral standards in public serv ple. To this end, we, the m Society, commit ourselves tot principles 1. Service to the public is bey oneself 2. The people are sovereign an lic service are ultimately, them, 3. Laws govern all actions of t vice. Where laws or regi ambiguous, leave discretio} cence, prox istration. The develop the its member- jaceness of by its exam. bers of the 1 following i service to hose in pub- sponsible to public ser. lations. are ‘oF require change, we will seek to stive the best interests of the public. 4. Efficient and effective ma 'o public administration. through misuse of influence, or abuse is intolerable. Em rent is basic Subversion aud, waste, loyees who responsibly call attention to} wrongdoing will be encouraged, 5. The merit system, equal opportunity, and atfirmative action principles will be sup- ported, implemented, and promoted, 6. Safeguarding the public trusts paramount, Conilicts of interest, bribes, gilt, or favors which subordinate public positions to pri. vate gains are unacceptable. 7. Service to the public creates demands for Special sensitivity to the qualities of justice, Courage, honesty, equity, competence and compassion, We esteem these qualities, and we will actively promote them. 8. Conscience performs a critical role in ‘choosing among courses of action. It takes into account the moral ambiguities of life, and the necessity to examine value prior ties: good ends never justify immoral means 9 Public administrators are not engaged ‘merely in preventing wrong, but in pursu- ing right through timely and energetic exe- ction of theic responsibilities. Adopted by the National Counc of the American Society far Public Administation on Deceit 198 How about the immigration offic decide whether to grant legal stat threatened by death squads in his, in the face of a federal policy that d Consider that country’s regime ropy warrant granting its citizens political | who has to to a refugee Brtom country © not officially ive enough to ssylum? What is the ethical course for a state enipretel of «ial who believes that his agency's dlischarge permit to a large factory lution, and thereby increase cancer nt grant of a I have a sub- tes 10 oF 20 te, though substantial impact on rte, pol- Years down the road? The examples mas are endless, and they range from 10 the tuly horrific, Though we undoubtedly could these predicaments on a case-by-cast Not to everyone's satisfaction —it is di such ditem- the mundane olve each of basis—albeit ficult to pro- ‘mulgate sensible general rules that anticipate future ethical dilemmas. Law and hierarchy are centual to ‘modern administration. A bureaucracy of men and women who act wholly according tothe dictates of their own values is very nearly @ contradiction in terms. Such a freewheeling system also makes a mockery of representative government, which rests (on the idea that choices made by citizens through democratic processes wil e translated reasonably faithfully into public policy. Yet itis atleast as dic. {urbing to contemplate a system thal so emphasizes strict obedience to rules that administrators become amoral automatons. One need not even resort to extrome cases like Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union under Stalin to recognize that some laws, no matter how correc in form, are morally wrong and ‘need to be disobeyed. This is one reason why codes102 Public Management of ethics, while helpful in some fespects, cannot completely resolve ethical dilerimas for public achministrators. if such codes accurately reflect, as they should, the fundamental vales of the profes sion, they are bound to contain af internal tension between the need for organizaifonal order and claims of individual moral judgmehi, for such isthe nature of public administration. There are other reasons that cofles of ethics and other such guidelines cannot alas help adminis: tralors “do the right thing.” To begh with, although ethical rules are usually very cleaf when stated as general injunctions, they freqhiently become exceedingly vague when applied td specific circu stances. For instance, a common ethic among social service workers isto protect the inferests of clients, While this seems unambiguous] enough in the abstract, what does it mean in farticular? What exacly is inthe interest of an ole person sufering from Alzheimer’s disease? At whpt point are the benefits of independent living oulfveighed—in the client's own interests—by the risks Hf doing injury to himself or herself? The principle if intact, but itis ‘not clear how itis to be applied. ‘An additional problem with efhical guidotines arises when principles remain infact only in the abstract. Consider this example} It is a widely accepted standard in public adminfstration that iis ‘unethical (as well as illegal) for an pificial to accept ‘money of other gifts fron individua}s or groups who might materially benefit from a dfcision made by that official. Now, it obvious thal certain kinds of behaviors would clearly be out of bpunds according to this rule. Certainly, an administptor would be in violation if he or she accepted, spy. a git box of gourmet coffee (much less $14,000 in small tunmarked ills) at Christmas from 4 contractor with whom he or she does business. Bu does that mean that the same administrator couldn} accept a cup or ‘wo of that same cofice from the fantractor while Visiting a job site? And if itis OK tp accept the cup of coffee, what does that suggest fbout the princi- ple? Thar its all right to accept git} as long as they have hot water added to them of are consumed immediately? Probably not. One fouled argue that what the principle really says is tht a1 administra tor shouldn't accept valuable gifts; frat a cup of cof- fee worth 50 cents is allowable Hut a box of the ‘beans from which the coffee is brewed is not. But then what is the cutoff in our deffnition of *valu able"? Would it be legitimate to accept a small packet of beans at Christmas worth 50 cents? Again, probably not, so maybe we can avoid the problem by saying that the cup of coffee is not really a git, that it is instead a common courtesy extended in normal social interaction; such courtesies, we might argue, are OK. But what are the hounds of common ‘courtesies? In some circles, providing limausine ser vice or an evening's entertainment falls under this heading. if you think those sound excessive, where would you draw the line? And doesn’t drawing a line just put you back in the business of trying to define “valuable”? We might, of course, try t0 resolve the issue by saying, “Right this is jus! too confusing. No one can accept any git, no matter how small, uncer any cit= cumstances. No coffee, brewed or otherwise. No limousine service. No anything.” This resolution is, clear enough. But is il practical? Supervising high- way engineers are going to accept cups of coffee Police officers are going to eat free donuts now and then. Almost everyone is going to take home a pen- cil from the oifice occasionally. you brand com ‘mon behaviors as unethical, what meaning does the word ethical have? A final problem one must confront in trying to sort aut ethical guidelines in the public sector—or anywhere else for that matter—is the fact that ethical principles sometimes simply conflict with one another or with other principles of good manage- ‘ment This is true even if we put aside the fundamen: tal law-versus-conscience issue, To illustrate, consider two common principles in public adminis- tration: public disclosure and confidentiality. The first principle, buttressed by sunshine laws and the Freedom of Information Act, counsels administrators to eschew secrecy and to share as much information as possible with the public, The second principle, underpinned by the Privacy Act and related laws, ‘warns the administrator not to disseminate informa- tion that might violate a citizen’ right to privacy: As few issues fail to engage both principles simultane- ously, forthe administrator this i a dilemma indeed. In sum, ethical issues are an important problem in the public sector, Yet they admit no easy solu ‘Sce Heuman Mating i, Profesional Star ad Ethic: A Wrerkbook or Pubic Adminsators Washing, Dis Ameian Society or Public Adavnisuaion, 1979, ps 19-20, ora csc ‘sano his problemTOW So Wa Capra Re tions. Not only does the naturd éf modem bureau: racy leave litle room forthe rhdneuvering of ind vidual conscience, but efforts tplformulate general Codes of ethics, however necefshry and laudable, often run afoul ofthe dficutied.f applying general rules to specific cases, countenhacing unavoidable exceptions to absolute rules anfilreconciling irec. ‘oncilable principles. The questifd of administrative ethics must in the end remain den, subject to an ever-unfolding dialogue amoby, administrators politcal leaders, and citizens FURTHER READING A good place to begin further reaHing in this field is with Stephen Bailey's classic antffe “Ethics and the Public Service,” Public AdminisHation Review 24 November-December 1964). Fel important argu: ‘ments on the relationship betwdén constitutional valves and administrative ethics, Hee two books by John Rohr: Ethics for Bureaucrats] An Essay on Law and Values (New York: Dekker, 1878) and Public Service, Ethics, and Constitltional Practice (Lawrence, Kansas: University Hress of Kansas 1996). Albert Hirschman provid}s an especialy pithy summary of the choices facif an administra, ‘or caught in an ethical quandary fp Exit, Voice and Loyalty (Cambridge, Mass.: Halfard University Press, 1970). A sophisticated bo for personal responsibility in administration lle presented in Administrative Ethice 103 Dennis F Thompson, *Moral Responsibility of Public Officials: The Problem of Many Hanes,” ‘American Political Science Review 74 (September 1980). In a 1980 article “Whistle-Blowing in the Public Sector: An Overview of the issues," Review Of the Public Personnel Administration, James Bowman reviews the history of whistle blowing and the legal protections available to administrstons who take this step, Tey L. Cooper has done a great deal of inter. esting work in the field of administrative ethics, His eclted Handbook of Administrative Ethics (New Nork: Dekker, 1994) contains 29 essays on the sub. ject that range from philosophical inquiries to com. parative analysis. His book The Responsible Administrator 4th ed. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998}, discusses how people can remain ethical in an organizational environment. Cooper's related work, An Ethic of Citizenship for Public Administration (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1991), attempts to describe the substance of appropriate ethics for public administration, based ‘on the idea of citizenship. Finally, you may wish to peruse a symposium on the topic “Ethics in the American Public Service” Published in Annas of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Ganwary 1995). Edited by Harry Reynolds Jr, this symposium consists of 12 original essays on such things as congressional ethics, the media and ethics, and the enforcement of administrative ethics. (Overview of Exercise tn this exercise, you will read a cagp study describ ing the ethical dilemma conironthd by 9 middle Manager in a county planning départment. Your assignment will be to analyze the sifuation from the administrators perspective and to oftine what you would do if you found yourself ie these circum, stances, INSTRUCTIONS Step One Carefully read the case materia presented on Form 27, ‘Step Two Prepare answers to the discus Form 28. questions on“> 2000 Addon Wee Langan Re FORM 27 ‘THE SETTING Windham County is one of the moft rapidly grow= ing areas in the United States. By most any sea sure_employment, housing staffs, population increase it Ras experienced extiaprdinary devel- ‘opment in recent year. Although itfleconomy, ain many similar areas along the easter seaboard, was traditionally dependent on manufaqturing, state and focal officials worked hard to altegft new service- based industries an have been sul in esa, iishing Windham County as a majpr banking and insurance center. As a result, tHive has been 2 tremendous inflxe of white-collan workers, which has caused a boom in local residential and com- mercial consteuction. Consequerfly, pressures on Windham Couniy’s dwindling supgy of vacant land are great, Roads that five years agi} wound through quiet pastures and apple orchards}hre now clogged sith cars making their way to andfrom the endless Series of housing developments, hopping centers, and corporate plazas that lin their tarmac Demands for new water supplies] sewer lines, and other infrastructural improvemgnts, as well as Schools, medical facilities, and fcr services, fave multiplied apace. A Windhafn County version of Rip Van Winkle, awakening if the new millon nium, would find his environs fis foreign as the moon. “The entity mainly responsiblp for guiding this development is the county goverment. Although the county encompasses severaf small cities that bear responsibility for tradition urban services ‘within their borders, most Wingham County resi ddents-and most of the county land—are to be found in anincoported reas "hs the cu in the business of providing many primary services, including police and fire protection. Moreover, under slate law, county governmpnt exercises many 105 The Case ‘countywide functions, superseding the cities in such areas as transportation, libraries, health and social services, and land-use planning. Even Schools are administered on a countywide basis, although through an independently elected school board, ‘Windham County government is organized on a strong executive-council model. A county executive is elected on a countywide basis for a term of four years; the executive is responsible for day-to-day administration, for appointing major administrative officers, and for preparing an annual budget. The ‘county’ legislative branch is a county council, the six members of which are elected by district; heading the council is an independent (countywide) council president, Elections to all county offices are partisan tind are usually hotly contested, though campaigns land outcomes tend to turn more on personality and. faction than ideology. Registration in the county is ‘about evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, and control of the executive and leisla- tive offices has alternated between the two parties with considerable regularity: Not surprisingly, development issues are central to county politics. In a jurisdiction where the narmes and faces of builders and bankers have become as famous-—and occasionally infamous-—as any politi Cian’, candidates for office routinely stake out posi- tions in favor of “responsible growth,” suggesting vaguely that they will keep the fires of economic development stoked without buckling under to undue pressures” from developers. The Windham Journal, the county's sole newspaper, regularly reports the development plans and deals, would-be land otherwise, that percolate through business and politcal circles and more than once has uncovered 2 distinctly malodorous transaction. Indeed, the whiff of corruption has never been far from devel- ‘opment politics in Windham County, a fact that isHe tens of millions deals. In the past ‘als have been for peddling their Jo, the director of Jons that he had Fvestment group in the county. mills are to be paintained what tance between cers, realestate transformed the Pot exactly dumbfounding given Of dollars at stake in many of th 15 years, three elected ofif indicted—two were convicted 4 votes to developers, Two years a Planning resigned amid allega ‘eceived consulting fees from an with substantial land holdingd Beyond these cases, if the rumel believed, few top officials have fone would consider a healthy a themselves and the contractors, bu ‘moguls, and moneymen who havel face of the coun THE ISSUE For the past few years, the bigges development circles has beem Course, facility owned and o County, Situated on 200 acres of gen Bluestone is the last green space portheastern Windham County, ail aren kas {Rally 35 Volva Valley. Bounded on fhe east by tne uindham River and on the west byla major ane bighway, this corridor, with the goll coune are Contes, presents, irom a developer perspective Sye-popping demographics: Hall tht household; aythin a 2-mile radius of the course Have incomes Shmore thar $90,000 a year; the ayprage amy Sprsists of 1.8 professional wage earhers and 1.) ffildren, owns 2.1 late-model foreign ears: ard ties in an owner-occupied dwelling oh 0.85 anne Of land; moreover, 250,000 peop live jithin a vst une drive of the gol course. What ally makes the developers’ packet calculators sme, though, is the fact that, as one put it, “the dommerceal ores Othe corridor is underealizel” Roughly Ganslated, this means that the upper nfidle-cey, Genizens of northeastern Windham Couty hee gy drive major distances to spend ther money. Although the state highway that runs through me senrdtt, Windham Pike, is lined with seeming scores of strip developments, these are filed wilt, Broeery stores, insurance agencies, aufo dealer, story in local luestone Golf rated by the ly rolling hits, any size is ships, chiropractors’ of array offastood outs, and all-night “conven ices, and the usual jaring 'mutfler shops, gas stations lence mars.” The region aly major shopping mall is located just et ne cuerstate highway in the center of Windhann Govpl 20 1030 minutes by car irom Vol Valen Thice years ago, acting on a recommendatt.n treet County Ofice of Economic Development the County Counc! approved in principle a oer yautae® with a developer the Bluestone land tore Pekte-be-specitied parel elsewhere and a yore piespecitled amount of money. The thamy whe ay beth parties would profit handsomely howe rat exchange. The a significant plus property and ly would amount to fig 12 $20 milion per year; golfers would be mae Hed, lt was hoped, by using the new parcel i another course with even more The developer would receive 2 dlnsrily prime land on which a new mall egy slot eartment stores, restaurants, boutiquer and movie theaters—could he bull, Since the sions were theoretically confidenial—in party pipet all pares irom speculative effects dy ang alae in Part to help the county get the beet dant ronal ait last the rough outlines of al the pos Bosals made it into the press in short orden Wg Spronunies for leaks were manitold The propos is were seen by the counly executive sate, Orme sta the directors of planning and of the Office of Economic Development and thet top Salt and all members of the council, whe hot oni pce, SUBBestion tht circulation ofthe pros otal be restricted, for reasons of security ea eial committee. In a Public disclosures was tics in Windham Cou usual. Ctizen-action lions to stake out Bluestone Golt Assoc! ny event, the net effect of the s to make development pol inky even more citcuslike than 8/0Ups sprouted like dando. Positions on the issue: The ation lobbied furiously to pro- 106,tect its “historic tinks"; the Committee formed to press the c Bluestone land but convert it to a preserve the Emergency Housing| insisted that any development ing housing’ to accommodate Wit “growing low-income and homel group calling itself Concerned Northeast Valley opposed any ‘would threaten the “unique social tal character” of the atea; the Association worried that anew mj off trade and benefit only “big-mé London, New York, and Tokye.” business and civic leaders scur county, painting glowing pictures| other economic benefits that wo cone proposal or another In this atmosphere, firm deci indham River ty to keep the ark and nature ction Coalition ide “affordable ham County's population’; a jomeawners of selopment that all Merchants I would siphon rey investors in fete, major ed around the new jobs and 1d spin oif from ns proved elu sive, Each time county officials I sed close to some agreement, a leak would px per story, complete with maps ane followed by the mobilization of a fone who had a stake in the issuel inevitably be made about who ci whose campaign or which spouse! worked for which developer. In midst of this free-for-all that one was indicted for trying to “rent” H the developers with a Bluestone Although the vote in question i another property, and although th erated with the prosecutors office self to be “wined” during a meetin was to change hands, the affair f whole Bluestone aflat ‘Aller three years of commoti the county executive and council ago on a process that would, the the matter to closure. According a final set of sealed proposals wa to the Oifice of the County Execut tive, the planning and developm 8 a newspa- artists sketches, fone and every Charges would tributed what to 9 brothersin-law Jed, it was in the council member Js vote to one of foposal pending. ved rezoning of developer coop- nd allowed him. at which money ther tainted the and indecision, reed six months believed, bring, Resolution 252, to be submitted 1e on October 1 t directors, and ‘A small team of county officials “ county execu- the council presicent—would revi consulting only with their senior st jw the proposals, ii, negotiate any 107 changes with the developers, and recommend one to the full council by November 1. The council ‘would have two months to hold public hearings and vote the proposal up or down ‘THE PROBLEM You have been observing this extended dispute from the vantage point of a desk in the County Planning Office, where you have been employed for six years a5 a senior planning analyst. You report directly to the chief of the Planning Analysis and Ad- ‘ministration Division, one of the office’ two operat- ing divisions, and supervise a staff of three entry-level planners, Your division, which employs ight professional staff members, is responsible for the development and administration of the county's long-range (20-year) land-use and transportation plan, the mid-range (five-year) capital development plan, the annual county profile (a snapshot of ‘demographic tends), and any special planning pro- jects, The other, slightly smaller division ofthe plan- ning office, Planning Services, deals with diay-lo-day zoning and assessment questions. Given your responsibilities, you have dealt with ‘one facet or another of the Bluestone issue almost continuously, though not exclusively (you have too much else to do, forthe past few years. Asa conse- ‘quence, you are about as well informed as anyone else in the county when it comes to the various plans for the property. And with your professional training and experience, you are well equipped to asses the costs and consequences of the various Proposals. In general, you have grown weary of the ‘whole affair. While you see genuine benefits accru ing to the public if a Bluestone exchange goes through, you have begun to wonder whether devel- ‘opment has gotten totally out of control in the county. Sometimes it seems that the 20-year plan right as well be written on an Eteh-a-Sketch, the way planned green space regularly gets nibbled away in rezoning applications. It might not be so bad, you think, ifthe process were more ordety, if people stopped and thought about what they were doing and made more rational decisions. That'sWhat you leamed in your plan uate school. But that’s not how There's too much money at sta ble people start acting like hogs For years, though, you've st your head down and doing the For various Bluestone schermes fully supervised three transport Put together a county recreati ment, and coordinated impact ‘county's Water Resource Agene gotten the impression that most o 428 well have beon chucked into politicians seem already to know] ‘want and are just looking for w: them—you've always figured thal your job was to analyze facts, nt to set policy. Nd one-—at least one in a position of authorty—hifs asked for your Considered! opinion about what toldo with that golf Course, and its unlikely anyone yfill. Sure, you've heard the cumars about palms bing greased and silent partnerships being arranged; ho one who lives in Windham County, much tess who works in the County Building, can avoid them. but you've never 2etually seen any hard evidence of forruption your. self, so you've decided to let the istrict attorney and the feds worry about i Atleast that was the situation un Wednesday, six days ago, your bo! his office and asked you to sit dowh. After a warm greeting and prefiminary chitchat abput your fami he indicated that the Bluestone Revfew Commitee, a5 the small county tearm had becothe known, was fearing a decision on a developrhent proposal Although he (your boss) wasn't a rember of the committee, he had, he said, been consulted fre quently, particularly on technical qlanning ques. tions. *Now we need your help,” he smiled. He Picked up a manila folder from his desk and with drew a thin sheaf of papers that he pfssed across to You, indicating, with 2 wave of his Hand, that you should look it over. You recognized f immediatly a5 one of your transportation flow hnalyses—the (one triggered by Tistate’s proposal ff a sprawling, 200-store, multilevel mall at Bluesfone. You flip through it perfunctorily and raise ah eyebrow at hg courses in grad the process works, . Otherwive sens a trough, ck it out, keeping Jest job you could Hone, you've dut- flow analyses, al needs assess studies with the Although you've your work might back hole—the the answers they 78 t0 rationalize lil last week. On called you to 108 your boss, as if to say, What oft? This was an easy one as far as you were concerned. The study showed conclusively—more than a year ago—that ‘even with improvements, Windham Pike could not begin to handle the volume of trafic generated by a Project of that size; it wasn’t even close. Why bring ‘up now, you wander? “There seems to be a problem with some of the humbers in that report” your boss continued, sti smiling, “Nothing setious—and certainly no reflec. tion on your work. W's just that the volume estimates are high and some of the destination data need leaning up. 1 wonder if you could take a look st it {his aternoon and fix it up. ve got to report back to the committee tomorrow.” You agree to check it over, although you doubt that there is anything wrong with it, and after afew more minutes of personal banter with your bose, You return to your office and pall out the fles con {aining the supporting documentation for the report. ‘fer three hours of poring over the original demo. Braphic projections, trip studies, and transportation flow models, you lean back in your chair and tub your eyes. No errors here, you think: Sure, there's Some room for judgment~ater all, we're dealing with assumptions piled on top of assumptions, But hhow can we just reduce the volume estimates? And My should we? If anything, the new demographics bolster the original conclusions. You call your boss, but he’s left for the day. So you position yourself in front of your computer and wearily peck out brie ‘memo that says, in essence, the report as written stands as far as you're concerned, ter zapping itto his e-mail address, you grab your coat, head for home, and forget the whofe thing Two days later, on Friday aftemoon, you run into a casual acquaintance, an administrator from eco. omic ‘development, down by the vending machines in the basement. [1e gives you a playfol poke in the ribs and says, “Hey, {hear its gonna be TiState. You heard anything? ‘Whatt” you ask, never paying much attention to this fellow, “You know, Bluestone. | hear the committee's ‘Coming out with an endorsement ofthe big TiSiate Project. But it’s still hush-hush. Keep it under your700 Aion Wey Log Pe hat." He gives you a conspiratorial Wink and walks away. You're puzzled but are distracthH enough by cother problems not to give it too thuch thought. Later, though, your boss stops by the fice and says something you find peculiar “Sorry #lidn’t see you ‘yesterday. I was tied up in meetings ali day. You know, | think this Bluestone thing is fully going to be off our neck. | can’t say anything more now, of course, but a deal is in the wind. Anyway, t got your note and wanted to let you know I Hppreciate the time you spent checking over that riport. Some of the estimates were still a lite off, buf fortunately we got some revised aumbers from Fparty at State DOT. Listen, have a good weekend New numbers from Fogarty? What new num- bers? Why would the transportatidn department have generated any new numbers? Yu make @ note to call Fogarty on Monday. MONDAY ‘Your call to Anne Fogarty has not beqh enlightening. ‘Although you'd worked with her a fai amount in the pas, today she seemed distant, even fuasve. Yes, she said, her office had reassessed their ow projections in the northeastem corridor of WindlYpm County. Just 2 routine adjustment based on some “fevised assump- tions.” And no, she couldn't be mor specific about the assumptions just now. She really|didi’t have the time today. There were a lot of thifgs to wrap up around the office. You knew, didn't ypu, that she was leaving atthe enc! of the week? Three weeks of accu- ‘mulated vacation, then off to a new jb in te private sector. Oh, roally? With who? TriStath Development, she said, and then rang of Now your stomach begins to hur and you really don't want to think about why. Afte staring out the: jo go down the window for half an hour, you decid hall and speak to your boss. 109 His office door is open. After he motions you in, his usual broad smile seems to fade a bit as you ‘mention that you had been chatting with Fogarty. You are curious, you say, about the changed assumptions in the Windham Pike projections. “Justa technical adjustment,” he says. “DOT ini- tiated it” “But they don’t seem to jibe with any of the other data we have,” you point out “Look,” says your boss. “You know how these things work. The assumptions in these models are always up for grabs, anybody's guess. DOT made the call; we accepted it. Now, [think it would be best if we didn’t pursue this any further" “1 understand,” you say. “But you know, I've heard some rumors that the TriState proposal is alive again. ! know you can’t talk about it, but “That's right. | can’t talk about it, and you shouldn't talk about it either” “But just hypothetically .. used." “Life is full of ifs” he says, cutting you off again. “just like mathematical models.” Then, with his smile completely gone, his eyes lock onto yours. “Let me be clear about this.” he says. “This project has been in the works for three years. We've seen things get screwed up time and time again. Now it finally looks as if we've making progress. A lot o people have invested a fot of time and a lot of ‘money. The political balance here is very delicate. No one is going to appreciate anyone who does anything to upset that balance. Your flow projec- tions were estimates. DOT's flow projections were estimates. | have decided, and the rest of the com- mittee has agreed, to go with the DOT's estimates. ‘As an associate director of this office, that is my judgment to make, Now, do we understand cach other?” You nod your head vaguely and walk back to your office. if those numbers are