New York Metropolitan Chapter ASPA NEWS

Here is an opportunity to find out what awaits you across the Hudson River, when ASPA's 62^nd National Conference takes place, March 10-13, 2001, in Newark, NJ. This promises to be a well-attended and very interesting conference, and one which will highlight the remarkable Newark renaissance and the continuing resurgence of this entire region.

The evening's agenda includes presentations about some of the planned conference sessions, events and activities, by:

Refreshments will be served, and questions will be answered. The conversation will be stimulating, and a good time is guaranteed to be had by all. For more information about this event, or about the 2001 National Conference, contact Jonathan Justice at (973) 353-5093, extension 28 or e-mail jjustice@pegasus.rutgers.edu.

Partisan Influence

The hot topic on the Ethics Section list serve has been the apparent ethics failures among supervisors of elections in Florida. One particular is prominent, the supervisor of election in Seminole County is said to have permitted Republican party representatives to correct absentee voter applications that were invalid when submitted. The supervisor of election in Martin County is said to have done the same, with an additional allegation that applications were physically removed for the correction. Related claims include that the same thing happened in other counties and that Democratic party representatives were denied this opportunity.

Suppose these assertions are true. Is there an ethical lapse? What is it? And, is this a concern for public administrators?

To many, it seems obvious that these are ethical lapses. Here are some possible problems:

1. Florida apparently has laws prohibiting some of these actions. Violating the law is unethical.
2. Removing records from public offices introduces the opportunity for fraud.
3. Partisan modification of voter records introduces a bias in access to voting.

Yet, it is difficult to pin these lapses on the supervisors of election. The first and second problems above are linked. To prevent voter fraud, the state naturally does not want partisans modifying records, taking them away, etc. So, the state establishes controls to block these actions. But, the publicly circulated facts do not go here. There is no claim of fraud. Everyone who voted was apparently a legal voter. No votes were cast twice. The Florida Supreme Court concluded that the violation of the law was merely technical. The party representatives can, apparently, claim to have performed a public service: They completed some bureaucratic entries onto forms to help absentee voting applicants to get their application accepted.

What has the public, or at least the Democrats, concerned is the third problem, partisan influence on access to voting. This problem is not so straightforward. Apparently Floridians, and perhaps other Americans, have fewer qualms in this matter. On the one hand, the history of the Voting Rights Act suggests that we oppose some forms of unequal access.

Yet many practices lean in the opposite direction. In Florida, voter registration records were purged in a manner that may have disadvantaged Democrats. Similarly, the access to voting equipment disadvantaged the same populations. Florida’s top election administrators at the local and state level are selected through partisan processes. At the national level, the procedures for the 2000 Census were disputed along party lines with concern over the potential effect on the distribution of representation in the House of Representatives. Similarly, in Florida and across the country, voting district boundaries are drawn with a conscious attempt to influence balance of party power and even the election of particular candidates. Moreover, the electoral system throughout the United States disadvantages significant voting blocks that dissent to the two major parties.

It is difficult to make a case that partisan influence over the access to voting for a handful of voters is a problem, when so many more momentous matters are accepted.

Of course, there is a problem with partisan influence over access to voting. It is the American creed that we are equal and have equal voice in who governs us. When voting access is unequal, we are made unequal members of the society. Those who manipulated access have made themselves the arbiters of sovereignty, and themselves the oligarchs.

In their small way, assuming facts are as reported, this is what the supervisors of election did in some counties in Florida.

A final observation is that some public administrators, whether elected or appointed, serve as moral thermometers. Where there is widespread partisan influence over voter access, it is not surprising that local administrators see nothing wrong with similar practices. While the practices of these Floridians is reprehensible, focus on them alone will be treatment of the symptom only.

A goal for public administrators can be, instead, to serve as moral leaders. Through circumspect behavior, they can carry out their own duties well and serve as an example for others.

You are invited to nominate candidates for the prestigious 2000-2001 Luther Gulick Awards. These awards are part of our effort to recognize public servants for their contributions to the community. This year, the New York Metropolitan Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) honors:

• an Outstanding Leader in Public Affairs
• an Outstanding Public Administrator
• an Outstanding Organization
• an Outstanding Academic
• an Outstanding Contribution to Volunteerism
• two Outstanding Students
• an exemplary illustration of a "Best Practice" in Public Administration

The nominee should have made significant contributions to the practice and/or study of public administration. The annual awards are named for Luther Gulick, one of the founders of ASPA and a major force in the field.

To be nominated, one simply has to satisfy the criteria established by the New York Metro Chapter of ASPA (see below). Nominees may be organizational leaders or executives, administrators or managers from the public or not-for-profit sectors; academics and students of public administration; individual volunteers or volunteer organizations or units; public or non-profit departments, agencies, bureaus, or units. Nominations can be made by persons within the same organization. Membership in the Society is not required; excellence is.

Please submit nominations to the Awards Committee in letter format by April 15, 2001. The letter should illustrate clearly how the nominee meets or exceeds the award criterion. Materials, citations, and/or references that substantiate the nominee’s accomplishments are welcome. Provision of contact information, name, address, and telephone number for both the nominee and the nominator is mandatory. Send nomination letters to Christian Meyer, 1468 Midland Avenue, Apt. 1B, Bronxville, New York 10708.

The Awards Committee will meet at the end of April 2001 to review and evaluate all nominations. It will then submit a list of finalists to the New York Metropolitan Chapter ASPA Council for the selection of winners.

Award winners will be honored at the annual meeting and dinner scheduled for June 7, 2001 (location to be determined).

For further information about the awards and dinner, please contact Christian Meyer at cmeyer868@aol.com or Carolyn Hubbard-Kamunanwire at (718) 595-3571.

Your participation in this event to commemorate the contributions of public servants to society displays your concern about recognizing the dedication of those committed to public management.

Must have risen to a position of leadership and prominence in public affairs. Those eligible will have a distinguished record of leadership as elected executives, legislators, or members of the judiciary; and/or as chief executive of a public agency, non-profit organization, and/or private firm. In addition to distinguished leadership, the recipient will have played a prominent role in policy making and/or implementation of programs addressing key issues in public affairs.

On December 8, 2000, the Chapter held a Holiday Party in the Second Floor Lounge (Marble Room) at the Baruch College School of Public Affairs. In the spirit of the season, a food drive was held in conjunction with the gathering. The collected food items were donated to City Harvest.

A representative from City Harvest was the guest speaker at this event. John Krakowski, the Director for Policy and Community Affairs, described the mission and activities of City Harvest and the concept of food security for the at-risk population. They collect food from restaurants and supermarkets and then deliver it to homeless shelters and other emergency food programs. The organization handles 12.5 million pounds of food annually under stringent food safety rules and conditions.

For more information about City Harvest, visit their web site at www.cityharvest.org.

Steve Rolandi, the Conference Chair, and the entire Conference Committee have been working tiredlessly to make ASPA's 62^nd National Conference a rewarding experience. The Conference, titled New Century, Cities, Challenges, will be held on the Rutgers University campus in Newark, New Jersey on March 10 -13, 2001.

The conference is offering ten tracks on a diverse selection of current issues. James Schlesinger, former Director of the CIA and Secretary of Defense, will deliver the inaugural Elliot Richardson Lecture on March 11. Ferrel Heady will deliver the Donald C. Stone Distinguished Guest Lecture on March 13. The lecture topic will be " Priorities for 2001 and Beyond."

Six pre-conference workshops are offered on Friday, March 9 and Saturday, March 10. The topics are:

• Grantwinning: It's More Than Grant Writing
• Advanced Performance Management (CAP Sponsored)
• E-Government Initiatives
• The Fundamentals of Performance Auditing
• Performance Budgeting -- Exploring Practices and Potential (CAP Sponsored)
• International Development Management: Roots Roles, and Revelance

In addition, five mobile workshops will be held during the conference.

A Virtual Conference will make presentations and discussions available through the internet in an interactive format that will complement the activities in Newark

For more information about the 62^nd Annual Conference, go to the National ASPA web site at www.aspanet.org or the ASPA Online Community web site at www.memberconnections.com/aspa.

The Chapter welcomes our newest members: Casandra Ashman, Melissa Bottrell, Richard Culp, Osiris R. Fernandez, Franz L. Martin, Faithe Ann Scobbo, John Sharp, Preston L. Smith, Kayona Wall, and Norman Werner.

Chapter Web Site

We encourage all Members to visit our Chapter web site at: http://www.homestead.com/mvjnymetroaspa/index.html. Members may also wish to visit the National ASPA web site at: http://www.aspanet.org.

All NY Metro Chapter Members are encouraged to attend our monthly Governing Board Meetings. If you plan to attend a meeting, please call any Chapter Officer to confirm the meeting date, time, and location. The meetings usually begin at 6:00PM. If you have an item to be placed on the Meeting Agenda, please call Gregg Van Ryzin. Please also contact Gregg if you are interested in serving on a Chapter Committee (listed below).

If you have an item of interest to report to our members (a "Member News" item or an event to be listed under "Other Regional and National Events"), please call Mike Jameson at 718-557-3733.

February 10 - 13, 2001: 24^th Annual Teaching Public Administration Conference (Location: Arizona State University) (Contact: Robert B. Denhardt, e-mail: rbd@asu.edu.)

February 20 -25, 2001: 2001 COMPA National Conference (Location: Little Rock, AR, Doubletree Hotel Little Rock) (Contact: Beverly Edmond, 404-880-6052, e-mail: bedmond@cau.edu or Marshall Taggart, 773-838-0642, e-mail: AV00770@ci.chi.il.us.)

March 10 - 13, 2001: ASPA's 62^nd National Conference: New Century, New Cities, New Challenges (Newark, NJ) (Contact: Leslie Fain, 202-393-7878, e-mail: lfain@aspanet.org.)

April 7 - 11, 2001: National Forum for Black Public Administrators (NFBPA) Annual Conference (Location: Las Vegas, NV) (Contact: NFBPA, 202-408-9300, e-mail nfbpa@erols.com.)

April 18 -22, 2001: National Council of Public History (NCPH) Annual Meeting (Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) (Contact: NCPH, 317-274-2718, e-mail: ncph@iupui.edu.)

May 5 - 9, 2001: Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) 2001 Conference: Exploring the E-Frontier: Public Administration in a Knowledge Society (Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) (Contact: IPAC, 416-924-8787, e-mail: ntl@ipaciapc.ca.)

May 11, 2001: NCAC/ASPA Conference 2001: The Public Service in Transition -- People, Politics, Technology (Location: Washington, DC) (Contact: Suzette Kern, e-mail: Skern@doc.gov.)

http://www.homestead.com/mvjnymetroaspa/index.html

http://www.aspanet.org