As the revamped state ethics commission keeps its eye on elected officials, candidates and lobbyists, it is also adjusting to a much smaller budget, more reliance on the attorney general’s office to conduct investigations and a director whose experience is being questioned.
Government watchdogs are taking a wait-and-see approach before forming an opinion on the commission’s new structure and its leader.
The commission, which in late August named lobbyist Holly LaBerge its director, has diminished the role of its director while planning to rely more on the state attorney general and an in-house auditor to check thousands of ethics reports filed by elected officials and candidates. A second auditor will be hired to help with investigations.
LaBerge’s hiring comes on the heels of controversy. The agency underwent its steep budget cut at roughly the same time its previous director had drafted subpoenas looking into Gov. Nathan Deal’s 2010 campaign for governor.
Some observers wary
LaBerge comes to the job from the Public Defenders Standards Council, where she lobbied state lawmakers. Before that, the Georgia State University finance graduate was an analyst with the state House Budget Office.
The commission’s future is important, as it is responsible for making sure candidates, elected officials and lobbyists follow state law designed to ensure ethical behavior.
Open government advocates who monitor the commission’s dealings hope LaBerge will demonstrate a willingness to stand up to powerful political figures such as Deal, whom the commission will continue to investigate over campaign spending.
“She’s never managed, according to her background, a staff of nine or 10 people,” said William Perry, executive director of the watchdog group Common Cause Georgia, of LaBerge. “And [another concern is] just making sure the investigative side is something that can match the ability the commission had before they received a 42 percent cut from the Legislature.”
Patrick Millsaps, chairman of the five-member board of commissioners that governs the agency, said the agency is better positioned to carry out its mission following months of upheaval.
Agency reorganized
In May, the agency was embroiled in a dispute with then-director Stacey Kalberman. The dispute went public after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Kalberman had prepared subpoenas for Deal’s campaign that ethics commissioners had never signed.
The commission decided to eliminate the agency’s top investigator’s job and to cut Kalberman’s salary from $125,000 to $85,000. Kalberman resigned. LaBerge will make the lower salary.
Amid the changes, Millsaps led an effort to reorganize the agency and to change the executive director’s job from one that was designed to investigate politicians to one that is more administrative. With no attorney on staff, LaBerge and her auditors will rely on the Attorney General’s Office for legal guidance and to prosecute or settle violations of state ethics law.
Millsaps urged critics to give LaBerge time to learn the system and to work with Attorney General Sam Olens’ staff to develop procedures for investigating cases.
“Her role is going to be what she feels it needs to be,” he said. “Her first responsibility is coming up with this procedure that both our office and the AG’s office is comfortable with, and that is effective.”
Olens’ office is on board, at least for a 90-day trial period. If, after three months, the process is working for all parties, it will continue. If not, the commission will have to reassess its situation.
While the protocol for investigations is being created and a search for a second auditor is conducted, many of the commission’s cases will be on hold. That includes the investigation into Deal’s 2010 campaign for governor.
Getting up to speed
The commission is investigating whether Deal properly spent $322,000 in campaign money with companies Deal owns or has an interest in, or with businesses controlled by his associates.
The commission’s preliminary investigation found Deal’s campaign may have exceeded limits on air travel expenses and political contributions, among other possible violations of campaign finance law, documents reviewed by the AJC show.
Deal’s office says the governor did nothing wrong.
Because he was appointed by Deal, Millsaps has recused himself from the case. LaBerge said last Friday that she is not yet “up to speed on everything and not in a position to comment on a specific, ongoing investigation.”
LaBerge said she is ready for the challenge of the job.
“I’m comfortable with any and everything that has been presented to me, that is expected of me, to be able to handle,” LaBerge said in an interview.
LaBerge said she plans to be actively involved in all aspects of the commission, including investigations.
“My understanding is I’m going to be doing all of it,” she said.
LaBerge noted that when the ethics staff comes to a conclusion on a case, it is still the five commissioners that must vote to move forward with a formal investigation. “At the end of the day, it’s the commission that needs to make a decision on the information presented to them,” she said.
Perry said Common Cause will be watching to see how the changes work.
“I’m anxious to see it get started so we can evaluate its performance.”
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