Ethical Issue in Public Administration

Trash or Treasure - Case Study
Ethics is an important issue in the field of public administration since it provides accountability between the administration and the public. To enhance accountability, public administrators, public service leaders and other stakeholders in this field are required to adhere to a code of ethics. The code of ethics gives these professionals guidelines for integrity in their work and helps to ensure the public receives its needs in a fair manner (Academic Partnerships, 2016). However, not every professional in the field adheres to the code of ethics because of various factors such as corruption and greed. This paper analyzes the ethical dilemma in the City of Sunville that has left the Deputy Director of Transportation torn apart on what to say during the regularly scheduled monthly City Council meeting.
General Statement of the Ethical Dilemma
The ethical scenario in the City of Sunville is the lost inventory that was to be delivered to the Sunville Physical Plant surplus warehouse from the offices of the Department of Transportation. The lost inventory over the last five years was identified after a new computer system was installed in the warehouse to track inventory of the city’s agencies.
Key Actors
The key actors in this ethical dilemma scenario are Commissioner Richard Mitchell, his wife, Director of Transportation, Nick Kellogg, Deputy Director of Transportation, the City Council, Department of Transportation staff, and the public. These key actions in the scenario have different roles that can further be described through the following table.
Actor
(#2) Actor Relationship
(#3) Roles
(#4) Values
Commissioner Richard Mitchell
Commissioner of the City, Manager of a shelter for pregnant substance abusers
Providing foster children with a loving and supportive home
Honesty, transparency and fairness
Mrs. Mitchell
Mrs. Mitchell – Wife of Commissioner Richard Mitchell
Works together with her husband in taking care of foster children
Honesty, fairness and transparency
Nick Kellogg
Nick Kellogg – Director, Department of Transportation
Manages day to day activities in this department
Honesty, accountability, fairness, and transparency
New Deputy Director (me)
Deputy Director – Mitchell, City Council
Subordinate of Mr. Kellogg, friend of Mr. Mitchell, and member of the City Council
Honesty, transparency, accountability, fairness, and incorruptible
City Council
City Council – Department of Transportation, City officials
Holds regular meetings to evaluate public service delivery
Transparency and accountability
Department of Transportation staff
Staff – Director of Transportation, Deputy Director, Department of Transportation
Handles daily activities in this department
Transparency, accountability, honesty, fairness, and devotion to duty
The Public
The City
Expects better public service that meets their needs
Transparency and accountability
Roles among the Key Actors
Commissioner Richard Mitchell and his wife manages the shelter for pregnant substance abusers in town as they provide many foster children with a loving and supportive home during difficult transitions in their young lives. When executing their duties, Mr. & Mrs. Mitchell should uphold the values of honesty, fairness and transparency. The Director of Transportation, Nick Kellogg manages everyday activities in this department in collaboration with his deputy and other leaders. They should uphold the values of honesty, transparency, fairness and accountability in their work. The City Council holds regular meetings and focuses on ensuring transparency and accountability in the city’s agencies. The Department of Transportation staff should uphold honesty, fairness, devotion to duty, accountability and transparency when handling day-to-day activities in this department. The public expects city officials to provide excellent public service in relation to their needs. As a result, they keep city officials accountable and ensure transparency in public service delivery.
Values Surrounding these Relationships
As shown in the table above, the code of ethics for city officials and general ethical principles govern the values surrounding the relationships between the key actors and their respective roles in the public sector. The code of ethics for city officials and general ethical principles emphasize transparency, honesty, fairness, accountability, and devotion to duty. According to Whitton (2001), minimum set of ethical principles for public service includes transparency, fairness, legitimacy, integrity, serving public interest, and efficiency and effectiveness. These values are critical for city officials and staff since they are the premise for delivery of better public service to the city. Commitment to and upholding these values enhances the quality of work of city officials and their staff as they avoid ethical issues and dilemmas that could have negative impacts on their work.
Essential Facts
As evident in the scenario, the City of Sunville has lost inventory from the Department of Transportation over the last five years. Following the installation of a new computer system in the city’s Physical Plant surplus warehouse, thousands of dollars’ worth of property that was removed from the offices of the Department of Transportation over the last five years had not been delivered to the warehouse. This has attracted the attention of the City Council that has resolved to prosecute anyone involved in the theft to the full extent of the law. As the Director of the Department of Transportation, Mr. Kellogg is in serious danger of losing his job and charged for grand theft that is likely to result in jail time despite stating he had no knowledge of the lost inventory though it was worthless. The recent impressive success of the shelter for pregnant substance abusers have raised concerns though it’s partly influenced by many anonymous donations. A review of the shelter’s computer inventory list shows that repaired furniture and equipment is the city property from the Department of Transportation. Therefore, Commissioner Richard Mitchell is seemingly re-directing the department’s inventory to the shelter. This implies that some of the city officials are engaging in activities that clearly violate the code of ethics and general ethical principles. This has created an ethical dilemma on what the Deputy Director of the Department of Transportation should say at the City Council meeting given the facts in the case and his cordial relationship with the Commissioner.
Missing Facts and/or Implied Facts
One of the implied facts in this case is that Mr. Mitchell is seemingly collaborating with other city officials or staff in the Department of Transportation to redirect inventory from the offices. The lost inventory from the City could not have found its way to the shelter for pregnant substance abusers in the town without collaboration between city officials/staff in the Department of Transportation and managers at the shelter. Secondly, the Department of Transportation staff could have been involved in this scandal in order for Mr. Kellogg to be removed because of his poor social skills. They could have acted in a manner that would paint Mr. Kellogg as a corrupt and greedy manager and justify his removal from the position. However, the missing facts is whether the City Council had information in Deputy Director’s possession regarding lost inventory being found in the shelter.
Behavioral Issues
One of the behavioral issues presented in this case is Mr. Kellogg’s limited social skills despite being a competent manager and an honest man. These poor social skills have affected staff morale in the department by making many job duties unnecessarily complex and laborious. Secondly, the re-direction of inventory from the offices of the Department of Transportation to the shelter is an indication of unethical behaviors and practices both on the part of the Department and the shelter. Officials/staff from the Department and the shelter have engaged in practices that have encouraged unethical behavior with regards to the city’s lost inventory, which has occurred over the last five years.
Ethical Issues
Some of the key actors involved in the scenario have engaged in unethical behavior that has generated the ethical dilemma facing the city’s Deputy Director of the Department of Transportation. By illegally transporting inventory from the Department’s offices to the shelter for pregnant substance abusers, these actors have violated the city’s code of ethics and general ethical principles. These key actors have acted in a dishonest, greedy, corrupt, and unfair manner. Secondly, they have failed to serve the interest of the public resulting in inefficient and ineffective public service through huge financial losses for the city. In essence, they have violated professional ethics, which affects public service delivery (Kure, 2017).
Ethical Issues Analyzed
The actions of the key actors have violated professional ethics in the public sector and failed to serve the interests of the public. In this case, they have failed to demonstrate transparency, honesty and integrity. Failure to notify the City Council of the findings of a review of the shelter’s computer inventory list would essentially encourage this unethical behavior. The City Council needs such information in order to conduct further investigations, identify the culprits, and take necessary disciplinary and/or legal actions against them. Therefore, providing such information would promote integrity, transparency and accountability among city officials.
Action to be Taken
The Deputy Director should share the findings of his investigation and any other information relating to the case. However, the information should be shared in a manner that does not incriminate any of the key actors unless there is proof of their direct involvement in circumstances contributing to the loss of inventory.
Possible Consequences of the Action
First, the action would help promote integrity of the Deputy Director and encourage transparency, honesty and accountability among city officials. Secondly, it would help the City Council to identify the specific individuals involved in the grand theft and ensure they are charged for their actions based on the law. Third, this action would also play a critical role in ensuring the City Council does not wrongly incriminate any of the key actors. Finally, it will prevent further losses of property in the city.
Ethical Criteria Used to Determine Action
The ethical criteria used to determine action is the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) code of ethics. It highlights some key ethical principles such as demonstrating personal integrity, strengthening social equity, fully informing and advising, advancing public interest, advancing professional excellence, and promoting ethical organization (UNC School of Government, 2019). This course of action will help achieve these ethical principles listed in ASPA code of ethics.
Value Terms
Honesty, transparency, accountability and fairness: 1 in the Relationship Table; 2 in Roles Among Key Actors; 3 in Values Surrounding these Relationships.
Incorruptible and devotion to duty: 1 in the Relationship Table.
References
Academic Partnerships. (2016, May 24). The Importance of Ethics in Public Administration. Retrieved from the University of Texas Arlington website: https://academicpartnerships.uta.edu/articles/public-administration/the-importance-of-ethics-in-public-administration.aspx#:~:text=Ethics provide accountability between the,the trust of the community.
Kure, G.M. (2018, May). Public Servants’ Attitude Towards Professional Ethics and its Implications for Service Delivery in Selected Bureaus of the Oromia Regional State. Retrieved June 18, 2020, from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e33a/1f1f01fc900f993f679643740b8d8c104517.pdf
UNC School of Government. (2019, November 20). The Importance of Ethics in Public Administration. Retrieved from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill website: https://onlinempa.unc.edu/blog/the-importance-of-ethics-in-public-administration/#:~:text=American Society for Public Administration,integrity, promote ethical organizations, and
Whitton, H. (2001, February). Implementing Effective Ethics Standards in Government and the Civil Service. Retrieved June 18, 2020, from https://www.oecd.org/mena/governance/35521740.pdf