Office split means more stability for ethics entities
21st November 2016 · 0 Comments
By Della Hasselle
Contributing Writer
New Orleans voters have finalized a split between the offices of the city’s inspector general and the independent police monitor, two officials who had made headlines after years of disputes and public feuds.
During the Nov. 8 election, more than 70 percent of the city’s residents voted to separate the two offices, as well as the Ethics Review Board, in a three-pronged ethics reform initiative called the Home Rule Charter amendment.
The move, which becomes effective Jan. 1, officially codifies an already existing split of the inspector general and the police monitor after the two entered a memorandum of understanding the year before, agreeing that they no longer wanted their offices to be associated.
District “D” Councilmember Jared C. Brossett, who introduced the original legislation calling for the initiative to be on the ballot, said the move was expected to solve an inherent conflict in structure that long fueled public disputes.
“From every corner of the City, citizens overwhelmingly voiced support for the separation of these offices to operate independently and correct a structural conflict that existed,” Brossett said, adding: “I look forward to continuing to work with all three ethics entities in the future.”
The New Orleans Office of Inspector General, overseen by Ed Quatrevaux since 2009, is a watchdog force tasked with eliminating corruption, fraud, and abuse, and holding government officials accountable for efficient and cost-effective government.
To do so, the inspector general’s office audits and investigates government programs and operations, reporting their findings in publicly released reports.
The New Orleans Independent Police Monitor is charged with overseeing internal investigations in the New Orleans Police Department. Susan Hutson was hired by Quatrevaux in 2010 to oversee that office.
In addition to making the police monitor’s office separate from the inspector general’s, and absolving Quatrevaux of legal responsibility for Hutson’s office, the amendment also reallocates portions of the Office of Inspector General’s funding.
Prior to the split, the inspector general’s office was tasked with overseeing the police monitor’s office, and the funding was grouped together. By reallocating dollars already set in the Home Rule Charter, Brossett said the aim was to resolve public conflict and improve the relations between the offices.
Before, the inspector general’s office got three-quarters of one percent of the city’s general fund, or .75 percent of the general fund budget. Now, Quatrevaux’s office will get .55 percent, the police monitor will take .16 percent and 0.04 percent will go to the Ethics Review Board, which oversees both offices.
Finally, the initiative proposed to require each ethics entity to engage in a regular peer review process that meets the professional standards of each of their respective disciplines, ensuring that each ethics entity is independently monitored by industry experts and being held to the highest standards of transparency and accountability.
Both Quatrevaux and Hutson have praised the decision, with Quatrevaux going on record celebrating the thought of no longer having legal responsibility for Hutson’s office.
The two offices had long fought over funding, and over how much authority Quatrevaux’s office should have over Hutson’s. But before signing a memorandum agreeing to separate the offices, the fight between the two peaked after Quatrevaux accused Hutson of professional misconduct, and recommended that the New Orleans Ethics Review Board fire her.
Quatrevaux said Hutson had improperly released a video showing a New Orleans police officer hitting a 16-year-old girl in custody, after the officer had been already fired for inappropriate use of force.
Several City Council members ended up defending Hutson’s actions, but the incident marked an escalated tension between the two offices.
After voters passed law to split the offices on Nov. 8, Hutson said the change gives her office more stability. With a set financial stream, she had previously said in interviews that she planned to hire more staff.
“The voters of New Orleans have corrected a crippling structural flaw in the original charter amendment establishing the Office of Police Monitor, Ethics Review Board and Office of Inspector General by approving this charter amendment allowing for independent operational and financial structures for each ethics entity,” Hutson said in a release.
This article originally published in the November 21, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
