Conflict of Interest Serving on a Government Committee
originally titled: A Shameful
Waste?
Mark Matthews and David Parkinson have just been reappointed
members of the Madison County Solid Waste Management Planning
Committee. Committee members are appointed by the county board.
State law requires that the seats Matthews and Parkinson occupy
be held by a solid waste industry representative and an expert
in solid waste, respectively. Matthews is president of
Efficient Disposal Service, and Parkinson is an engineer who
specializes in solid waste disposal. Madison County has a
population of approximately 300,000, with 95,000 living in
Madison City. Rural Barker Township is the least populated
township in the county, with approximately 500 residents.
Prior to the reappointments, Efficient Disposal developed a
proposal that Barker Township be the site for a county
landfill. Although not involved in the development of this
proposal, Parkinson has provided consulting services to
Efficient Disposal in the past.
Residents in Barker Township strongly oppose the proposed
site for the landfill. A very large number opposed the
reappointment of Matthews and Parkinson. Now a petition
demanding the recall of Matthews and Parkinson has been signed
by several hundred township residents. They claim that both
Matthews and Parkinson are involved in a conflict of
interest.
Neither volunteers to resign. Matthews says he always makes
it very clear to other Planning Committee members when he is
acting as a committee member and when he is speaking as
developer of the landfill site. He says he does not vote on
sites he is developing. Parkinson's response is that he serves
at the pleasure of the County Commission: "I will do what they
think is best. If they think there is a conflict of interest,
I'll resign."
Two groups are primarily responsible for mounting the recall
campaign. Concerned Citizens of Barker and the Barker
Association for Rural Ecology both complain that the County
Board should have found other individuals to serve on the
Planning Committee. Although there were no other candidates for
the two positions, the groups object that the County Board did
not advertise that the positions were open.
Discuss the ethical issues this set of circumstances raises.
What do you think David Parkinson should do? Explain.