If nothing else has been learned from the Perez corruption scandal, at least someone is paying attention to the City of Hartford's Ethics code.
Apparently Cirque du Soleil has offered complimentary admission to numerous City of Hartford officials and employees.
In a quick response, Hartford's Chief Operating Officer David Panagore sent out the following e-mail to Hartford Department heads and the City Council:
From: Panagore, David B.
Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2010 1:36 PM
To: Dept Heads (City)
Subject: A COI Advisory
Importance: High
Many of you may have received an invitation to a private preview for Cirque du Soleil on June 16th (See below) . After conferring with the Corporation Counsel, I share the following advice and direction.
Accepting free tickets to an event falls within the ambit of the ethics code. Without knowing the value of each ticket, the provision in the Code proscribes receiving gifts aggrgegating more than $100 in any calendar year so with Cirque tickets one could run afoul of that prohibition pretty quickly. For example, any staffer who issues a permit for the Cirque show is well advised not to take tickets. Every employee of the City is covered by the Ethics Code and, quite simply, the better part of valor is simply to not accept any free tickets or other such gifts.
If you have any questions, please contact myself or John Rose.
If only he had been around a few years ago and could have changed "cirque du Soleil tickets" to "granite counter tops", the City could have avoided a lot of embarrassment and avoided a corruption trial.
3 comments:
The last time Cirque came to town many city officials and employees DID attend. Nothing like closing the barn door once the horse has escaped.
Gee I wonder why this was released during King Eddie's trial? Could it have anything to do with Eddie pulling out all the stops to change the city's image to one of honesty and morals? Seeing how Rosie's name is mixed in this I'm sure it is.
Did you dig for this email Kevin or was it sent to you by the city out of the kindness of their hearts?
What a joke!
Who needs to see Cirque? If you need to see a) clowns, b) people twisting themselves (and the truth) into impossible positions, and c) smoke and mirrors concealing trickey, you can just visit City Hall.
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