Certain conflicts don’t belong in council chambers
It’s not unusual that roles overlap, especially in a town like Luverne. A parent might teach a child in the classroom, or a business owner might compete for customers with her best friend. … And an elected person might personally benefit from work done in office.
In covering Luverne City Council issues, I’ve become concerned about what looks like some conflicts of interest playing out, with little notice.
This week, I got copies of the disclosure of conflict of interest forms filed at City Hall. Surprisingly, council members had little to disclose.
To pick on the popular and newly re-elected Mayor Glen Gust, he doesn’t often enough disclose his personal interests in topics being discussed at council meetings.
In the written forms, Gust was the only city representative who said he might have a conflict, as the owner of Glen’s Food Center, when doing city business.
That can’t be Gust’s only conflict.
To throw out some possibilities, Gust is a firefighter eligible for retirement and talks openly about the firefighters needing a raise in retirement benefits.
Just Tuesday, the council discussed holding landlords liable for utility bills their renters don’t pay, because, by code, they are the utility customer. Gust suggested that the city "write-off" the losses, which would essentially mean taxpayers would be subsidizing landlords. Gust owns rental property, by the way.
In his defense, he is a long-time private businessman who is used to dealing with issues in private. Starting his second term as mayor, though, he should be aware of how his actions affect the entire population of the city he leads, and leave personal issues at the council chamber door.
As they meet three times a month, our elected representatives should at least disclose conflicts, and not try to influence decisions.
Filling out those disclosure forms isn’t enough. Council members should hold each other accountable.
The city attorney and administrator should point out times when a conflict could come into play and advise the member accordingly. And elected people should watch themselves more closely, too.
Again, conflicts of interest can easily happen, especially when active, successful people run for office. It’s a matter of good ethics whether those conflicts are allowed to steer the course the council takes.