On ethics panel, McMorrow does the right thing
Guest Column • Arthur Z. Kamin
In the end, Freeholder Director Barbara J. McMorrow did the right thing. She rose to the occasion. She climbed the mountain. She hit the heights for herself, for the Board of Freeholders and for the Monmouth County residents she serves.

After initial hesitation, McMorrow cast the deciding vote for the five-member board to approve what had become a controversial resolution to establish a county ethics review committee.

The action was taken last Thursday, and it will go down as a significant day in Monmouth County governmental history with the three Democrats on the board, including McMorrow, voting in favor of the measure, while the two Republicans were in opposition, mainly because it carried a provision that could bring with it the appointment of a county inspector general.

Interestingly, it was a former Republican freeholder, now Assemblywoman Amy H. Handlin of District 13, who started the wheels turning years ago to bring major ethical reform to the Board of Freeholders after the county was rocked in 2005 by the devastating Operation Bid Rig corruption scandal that left deep scars that remain today.

McMorrow's initial opposition centered on a concern that an inspector general and the staff to go with the office would be costly and comes at a time when the county's finances are hurting in a crisis economy. She was joined in that thinking by her Republican colleagues Robert D. Clifton and Lillian G. Burry. The GOP members still have a hard time coming to grips with the fact that Operation Bid Rig came at a time when the freeholders were under the control of a well-entrenched Republican regime.

The ethics review committee — a blue ribbon panel if ever there was one — consists of retired state Supreme Court Chief Justice James R. Zazzali, retired state Superior Court Judge Alexander D. Lehrer, both Democrats, and former Freeholder Director Thomas J. Powers, a Republican.

Freeholder John D'Amico Jr., a Democrat and a former state Superior Court judge, deserves credit for pulling that outstanding group together. The members will bring credibility, knowledge, experience, distinction and good common sense to the entire ethical review process. They will serve without compensation.

Not only that, Zazzali is a former state attorney general. Lehrer is a former county prosecutor. Powers has lived the day-today operations of county government.

Freeholder Amy A. Mallet, a Democrat, said the ethics panel action "should have been done long ago, but certainly following Operation Bid Rig," continuing: "An ethics code is a tool that will assure that our county government operates at the highest level of integrity."

She said further, "The opinions we are seeking from these professionals goes beyond the discussion of an inspector general. We are seeking an overall ethics plan."

Operation Bid Rig was the name given to the FBI sweep in Monmouth County that led to the arrests of more than twodozen county and local officials. Most of them eventually were convicted. Among those charged with corruption was the late longtime Freeholder Director Harry Larrison Jr. who ran the county in a climate of cronyism, favoritism and patronage. He died before his case could go to trial.

"Monmouth County citizens must be assured that the corruption charges brought to light by Operation Bid Rig will not recur," D'Amico said. "It is my view that the freeholders must enact comprehensive ethical reforms that will prevent self-dealing, conflicts of interest, and criminal activity."

The resolution noted the freeholders are asking for a report with recommendations from the committee to the board on or before May 14. D'Amico said a certified copy of the resolution was to go out to the committee March 16. "Aside from the deadline in the resolution and the issues it asks the committee to address, there is no other protocol for how the effort will proceed," he added. "That is up to the committee."

D'Amico made a point of stressing the independence under which the panel will operate and his opinion that the inspector general issue has been blown out of proportion by those who opposed the committee's formation.

"I have repeatedly stated that no inspector general will be appointed, nor will the administrative code provision be retained if the Ethics Review Committee recommends its deletion or amendment," he stated.

D'Amico also disclosed that Powers, the Republican committee member, was appointed to the panel even though he voiced, in advance, his opposition to the appointment of an inspector general.

"I will respect and support whatever recommendations the committee makes on that issue," he said.

All of the freeholders — Republicans included — should sign on to that pledge. Meanwhile, the thanks of county residents should go to McMorrow for taking the important official first step that has the potential to bring true ethics reform to Monmouth County government.

Arthur Z. Kamin, Fair Haven, is an independent journalist.