Nguyên nhân chung Delaware thúc giục thành lập Văn phòng Tổng thanh tra

This morning, Delaware’s elected state Auditor, Kathleen K. McGuiness was sentenced on two charges of public corruption. The charges of official misconduct and conflict of interest resulted from hiring her daughter to work for and report to her – and allowing the young woman special advantages not offered to other employees. 

McGuiness is the first statewide-elected official ever both criminally charged and convicted while in office. After her conviction in July, she refused to step down, despite widespread calls for her to do so, and the House Speaker refused to initiate an impeachment hearing. The Governor called McGuiness “unfit for office” and was expected to remove her after sentencing. However, she avoided that fate by submitting her resignation last night, effective November 4. McGuiness had intended to run for reelection, despite conviction but she cannot do so because she lost the primary.

The jury also convicted McGuiness of “structuring” state contracts to avoid public oversight, but the judge overturned its decision. She was acquitted of felony theft and felony intimidation.

Tuyên bố về Nguyên nhân chung Giám đốc điều hành Delaware Claire Snyder-Hall

“Public service is about serving the interests of the common good.

For an Auditor to be convicted of official misconduct and conflict of interest is particularly egregious because it is a violation of public trust. Delaware’s Auditor is supposed to protect our taxpayer dollars from misuse, not use them to benefit her own family members. Our state officials are supposed to act in lợi ích của công chúng, không phải của riêng họ.

Người dân Delaware không nên phải thắc mắc các viên chức được bầu của chúng ta đang làm gì, hoặc lợi ích của ai đang được phục vụ. Chúng ta xứng đáng tin tưởng rằng tiền thuế của chúng ta đang được chi tiêu hợp lý, và các quan chức chính phủ đang phục vụ lợi ích của chúng ta, chứ không phải lợi ích của riêng họ hay lợi ích cá nhân khác.

That’s why Common Cause Delaware strongly supports the creation of an Inspector General’s office in the First State. Last spring there was bipartisan legislative support for creating an IG that is independent, non-partisan, and appointed on the basis of professional qualifications, rather than simply elected. Sadly, however, the bill was not allowed onto the House floor for a vote.  We need an IG that focuses on exposing public corruption in state agencies and state-funded entities, so that voters can be more confident that public officials are serving the public’s interests, rather than their own.

Moreover, although our state’s conflict of interest laws prohibit nepotism, it would be beneficial to amend the laws to mention that violation explicitly, so that no one can ever again claim that directly hiring and supervising one’s own family member is acceptable.”