Deal, Carter grapple over state ethics commission

• Max Blau
• State Sen. Jason Carter goes on the offensive in attacking Gov. Nathan Deal’s approach to ethics.

As CL touched upon this morning, Deal yesterday announced an overhaul of the state ethics commission.

His new plan, which requires legislative approval before taking effect, would expand the commission from five to 12 members and give executive, judicial, and legislative branches an equal number of appointments. Committee members appointed by a branch that was involved in an investigation would be forced to recuse themselves to avoid potential conflicts.

“It has been an ineffective commission for a very long period of time,” Deal told reporters in Athens. “Just recently I think we heard they have not disposed of a single case in many, many months, which in my opinion is inexcusable.”

The governor’s proposal comes days after jurors awarded $700,000 to Stacey Kalberman, the commission’s former executive director, in a whistleblower lawsuit stemming from her attempts to investigate Deal’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign expenditures. Kalberman convinced jurors that she had been forced out of office through salary reductions and staff cuts as retaliation for the probe.

Two similar lawsuits from former ethics staffers are pending. At the same time, ethics watchdogs and Democrats are trying to link the ethics controversies back to Deal, who has likewise distanced himself as much as possible from the ongoing legal affairs. The governor has insisted the commission’s problems needed fixing long before he took office - and that his proposal will help do so.

“Even a strong team with good intent falls short when the system itself is broken, and I do think the system is broken here, Deal told the Associated Press. “With stronger guidelines and a commission that avoids the appearance of conflicts-of-interest, I believe we can get the system functioning efficiently and effectively. That’s the first step in gaining public trust in the integrity of our political system.

State Sen. Jason Carter, D-Decatur, who’s long advocated for the creation of an independent ethics commission, attacked Deal’s newly announced plan, which undercuts a key part of the Democrat’s gubernatorial campaign. During a press conference this morning, Carter told reporters that the proposal fell short without having its own dedicated funding. What’s worse, he said, was the governor’s blatant attempt to pander to voters in an election year.

“It’s like the country song, ‘He’s a Brand New Man,’” Carter said. “We’ve been talking about the ethics commission for years and he’s been doing nothing. He’s failed to lead on the issue, and suddenly once he gets caught, once he gets challenged for re-election, he all of a sudden wants to delve into this issue. He had a chance to lead and he’s failed to do that.”

Carter continued his criticism of Deal’s refusal to address the issue until now. It took an “ethics catastrophe,” he said, pointing to last week’s verdict in the Kalberman case, to force him to act. He added that Deal’s campaign, not Georgia taxpayers, should be on the hook for the $700,000 awarded to the former ethics commission leader.

“The governor failed to accept any of those proposals and failed to lead on this issue until he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar,” Carter said.