ethics · n. 1. the moral principles that govern a person's behavior or how an activity is conducted: medical ethics. 2. the branch of knowledge concerned with moral principles.
moral · adj. 1. concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior. 2. following accepted standards of behavior. · n. 1. a lesson about right or wrong that can be learned from a story or experience. 2. (morals) standards of good behavior, or principles of right and wrong.
Interesting words especially when taken in context with modern day politicians, more so when we look around Bradford County and observe the shenanigans of some of our local politicians. I don't know what it is, but it's difficult to watch the news or read a newspaper at any given time and not see something about some politician that hasn't done something wrong or isn't involved in some type of crime or corruption. Maybe it's the forgiving nature of voters or the lack of voters taking politicians to task at the polls at election time that politicians keep on trying to get away with things they shouldn't be doing. One of these days I'd like to see people stop making excuses for why they'll vote for these clowns and I'd like to see real penalties when they're caught doing the things they shouldn't be doing.
The only reason I can think of that politicians keep trying to do things that are immoral and unethical is because they think they can get away with it and even if they get caught, they expect their adoring constituents will forgive them and keep on electing them. The sad thing is it's all too true. I for one have always refused to vote for people like that and when actual crimes have been committed, I would have those people sentenced to twice the normal sentence just for having broken the trust of the people they're elected to serve. Maybe when these individuals have to serve some serious jail time or their constituents give them zero votes at the polls we'll see politicians that will truly serve the people instead of their own self-interests.
We have former district attorney Bob McGuinness stating that some time prior to being elected district attorney in 1996 he didn't pay enough state and federal income taxes (if he paid them at all) and then he says he had a hard time paying them because he took the lower paying job of district attorney. Getting elected district attorney had nothing to do with the fact the taxes hadn't been paid. Bob McGuinness wants everyone to believe it was a clerical error in his tax returns, but then in at least his last year as district attorney he didn't pay his school occupation taxes and township per capita taxes, a pattern which continues to this day, only having just paid his 2005 taxes in March of 2007 and his 2006 taxes are still unpaid along with a massive credit card debt. The Towanda school district is awaiting word from their solicitor as to whether he paid his school and township income taxes from 1996 through 2006. It's a struggle for my wife and I to pay all of our taxes but we do. We don't fudge our tax returns to get out of paying taxes and wouldn't if we could (we file short form). Some people think it's the cool thing to do to cheat on their income taxes and many politicians have been caught at it (think Vice President Spiro Agnew). BCCC is fighting for people that can no longer afford to pay skyrocketing taxes; we're not fighting for people to get out of paying their fair share of the tax burden. As the number one law enforcement officer in Bradford County from 1996 to 2000 Bob McGuinness has no excuses for not having paid his taxes except to think he could get away with it or possibly not be prosecuted because he was a district attorney. Since 2000 he has continued to not pay his taxes and had judgments against him year after year but there never once was a sheriff's tax sale on him. Is it possible Bob McGuinness got special treatment because he's a friend of Sheriff Evans? You or I wouldn't have had that option. Does anyone wonder why part of Bob McGuinness's platform is to expand the office of the district attorney and the sheriff's office if he is again elected district attorney? Who is supposed to pay the higher taxes for an expanded sheriff's office?
And then we have the questionable activities of Sheriff Evans buying sheriff sales properties with Roger Brown, a current candidate for Bradford County Commissioner. It might not be illegal, but it sure sounds like a conflict of interest, highly immoral and unethical at the least. Sheriff Evans questioned the ethics of Magistrate Fred Wheaton in the 2005 primary. That sounds like some of the politicians ranting about family values while they go home to the mistress every night. When I vote for a politician, I don't want to see even a hint of that person being unethical or immoral. Just how ethical or moral was it for Sheriff Evans to throw the party at the courthouse because of his intense dislike for District Attorney Steve Downs? There are things smelling rotten in Bradford County and it's time for the voters to wake up and stop being so forgiving because the unethical and immoral activities will just get worse if we don't. We need to hold politicians to a much higher standard starting May 15 th.
Bradford County does indeed have an Ethics Policy. Bradford County Commissioners Bill McNett,
Bob Horton, and Dick Eaton adopted it in 1994. Copies exist at the Courthouse.
"As per the provisions of the Pennsylvania State Ethics Act, all county employees and elected officials are required to perform the duties of their office in an ethical manner. Any effort to realize personal gain through public employment, beyond the wages and benefits provided by Bradford County is a violation of public trust, as is any conduct which would create a justifiable impression in the public mind that such trust is being violated. All County employees and Elected Officials are required to meet this standard.
Any effort by any County employee or Elected Official to influence another County employee or Elected Official to violate the provisions of this policy or to engage in conduct which would create a justifiable impression in the public mind that such a trust is being violated shall also be a violation of this policy.
It is unlawful for any County employee or Elected Official to engage in activity which directly constitutes a conflict of interest. County employees or Elected Officials with any interest in an establishment that conducts business with Bradford County shall not participate in a decision or action affecting the County, or knowingly participate in any decision or action affecting a business of their immediate family.
County employees or Elected Officials shall not act as attorney, a gent, broker, representative or employee for, receive compensation or anything of value from any firm, person or corporation that transacts business with Bradford County."
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