by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Stacy Reardon sits — mostly alone — in a small, newly-renovated office on the fourth floor of City Hall. She’s next to Legislative Services, across from the mayor’s office and a short walk from City Council offices and the General Counsel’s Office. If you’re not looking, it’s easy to pass right by without noticing.
However, all 7,000-plus City employees are familiar with Reardon and her office to some extent. For the past year and half, Reardon has been the Ethics Program Coordinator. Together with John Jolly of the General Counsel’s Office and private attorney Carla Miller, Reardon helps assure every City employee and supervisor — from landscapers to the mayor — is well-versed in the City’s 51-page Ethics Code and Commentary.
“Most people think we’re here to investigate and handle complaints,” said Reardon. “The ethics program was created to educate employees and prevent ethics issues before they happen.”
Mayor John Delaney initiated the ethics program shortly after he took office in 1995, but it was an idea he had been kicking around for some time.
“It was part of the mayor’s platform when he first ran in 1995,” said Sharon Ashton, Delaney’s press secretary. “Rick Mullaney [general counsel] headed the committee that wrote the legislation. It involves training officials and officers. It’s very comprehensive.”
Enacted June 4, 1999 and amended Aug. 24 the same year, the Ethics Code deals with everything from use of public property to campaign issues to moonlighting. While it’s not Reardon’s job to enforce the Code — that’s up to the nine-member Ethics Commission — it is her job to make sure every department and every employee understands what they can and cannot do as City employees.
Unlike Jolly and Miller, who interpret the Code and make recommendations to employees, supervisors and the Commission based on how the code measures up against Constitutional rights, Reardon’s main objective is to inform. When employees are hired they are given a 30-minute “Survivor”-themed video that lays out the City’s Ethics Code. The video comes with a questionnaire that employees fill out that assures they actually watched it. At that point, any and all violations become the problem of the supervisor, Reardon, Jolly and Miller.
“Every department has an ethics officer,” said Reardon, who was in sales before coming to the City. “They see problems and ethics issues firsthand. Over the years, they have come up with some of the best ideas and suggestions for what needs to be done.”
The current election season has proven eventful and, sometimes, entertaining. In their zealousness to support certain candidates, City employees often find themselves walking the fine line between an ethics violation and freedom of speech, a Constitutionally-assured right.
Case in point: a supervisor called Reardon to report that an employee was wearing a campaign pin on their City-issued shirt during work hours. The shirt had a City of Jacksonville logo. At first glance, this appears like a violation of a rule within the Code’s Campaign Ethics chapter. However, because the shirt was purchased and therefore the private property of the employee, the pin was deemed acceptable.
Another example: an employee of the General Counsel’s Office recently came to work with a Republican Party pin on his shirt. Another employee, a Democrat, saw this as an endorsement of mayoral candidate John Peyton, who’s in the May 13 run off against Democrat Nat Glover. Jolly was consulted, and, again, it was decided that asking the employee to remove the pin may violate his right to free speech.
It’s these ethical dilemmas, and the legitimate claim that often a valid argument could be made for both sides, that keeps Reardon interested and motivated. With over 7,000 employees, ethical issues are almost constantly arising.
“I enjoy it because I believe in it,” said Reardon, who graduated from Wellesley College in Massachusetts with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. “City government needs ethics education. Almost every corporation in America has an ethics division. Jacksonville is unique. We are one of the only cities that has an ethics program. We don’t want people to flinch when they hear the word ‘ethics.’ We want to remind them of those values, both in and outside of work.”
The next few months will prove busy for Reardon. With a new mayor will come a new administration and many new employees. Also, Council will have several new members and administrative aides. All of them, from either Peyton or Glover on down, will go through ethics training.
“In July, we will have a serious training session for all the elected officials,” said Reardon, adding the new School Board members will also be invited. “The last time we did it [1999] was in the Osborn Center for eight hours. It was very in-depth, but we’ll do some tweaking from the last time. It’s very time consuming.”
In addition to having to learn a new job, Reardon has also been perhaps the most nomadic employee in City Hall.
“I’ve moved six times I started,” said Reardon, explaining she’s done three stints in the General Counsel’s Office and one on the first floor behind the Duval Delegation offices.
That nomadic professional lifestyle may be over, though. Reardon’s office is getting expensive shiny numbers — Room 450 — soon. That way all the new folks will be able to find her.