the revolvin door...

Houston Chronicle EDITORIAL

Feb. 24, 2007, 7:26PM http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/4578488.html

The revolving door:
Judge Eckels' refusal to rule out lobbying county soon after he quits reveals an ethical blind spot.

Nearly eight years ago, after winning re-election to a second term, Harris County Judge Robert Eckels delivered a state of the county speech that angered county commissioners and stunned his big-money supporters.

Eckels called on elected officials to be "public servants" rather than "public serpents" and declared, "It is time for us to do what is right, not what we have the right to do." He called honesty and integrity in government the most important project for the new millennium, one that could transform the community and the nation.

Although the county judge had raised millions of dollars in campaign contributions from county contractors, he explained after the speech that he felt "dirty" about the political process. Eckels then pushed an unsuccessful ethics package, including a proposal to limit political gifts from those who do business with the county to $250.

Commissioners El Franco Lee and Steve Radack accused Eckels of being irresponsible and hypocritical, but good-government advocates praised his courage and strong stance on ethics, an issue county government has historically shunned.

Now that Eckels has decided to quit less than two months into his fourth term, his attitude about the prevailing state of county government's ethics has changed. He will join the law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski, which received a quarter million dollars in legal fees from Harris County last year, and (he) refuses to promise that he won't lobby his former colleagues to get his new boss additional contracts.

In a session with the Chronicle editorial board, he explained why he would not make such a pledge. "I say no only because I have no idea what will come up," he said. "If I make a blanket statement that I will not have any contact with Harris County, I may have to break that promise."

Eckels now defends the state of ethics at the county. He noted a new state law requires officials to divulge any business connections to interests doing business with county government, making the process more transparent.

Eckels went on to say he doesn't know what the term lobbyist would mean in relation to the county, a strange statement from someone who has been the titular head of the government for more than a decade and knows its inner workings intimately.

Both the city of Houston and the federal government have revolving door statutes requiring an interval of time before former officials can lobby for public contracts. Neither the county nor state have such strictures. Eckels doesn't think such measures are necessary or even effective.

"Everybody tries to do ethics by rules ... but in the end it's not doing what the rules give you the right to do, it's doing what is right to do," Eckels said. "If you lay out for me a set of rules that says I can't talk to the county for a year, there'll be ways around that."

No one is accusing Eckels of misusing his position for personal gain, but his current position on ethics legislation seems naive and self-serving. Simply relying on the innate goodness of elected leaders to avoid misuse of their office won't police the behavior of members of Congress, Commissioner's Court or City Hall. It takes tough statutes limiting special interest campaign contributions, lobbyist gifts and favors, and keeping former officials from parlaying elective office into highly paid positions as influence peddlers.

As he leaves public service to cash in on the stature and contacts he gained in government service, Eckels' views on ethics predictably have changed, thereby proving he was right the first time about the need for reform.