CWA 1180 - HRA Watch

HRA Watch

Working in an atmosphere of corruption
by Tom Joad
January 2001

Recently we learned that the city's Conflict of Interest Board issued a finding that in 1998, soon after the appointment of HRA Commissioner Jason Turner, certain city rules were violated. Apparently, Commissioner Turner and First Deputy Commissioner Mark Hoover were found to have engaged in activities that were in violation of the Ethics and Conflict of Interest Rules for HRA Employees. These activities included using city employees and resources to do work for their private consulting business.

"Turner's an embarrassment"

That's according to the Chief, which also said his ethical lapses are "particularly deplorable coming from an official who has been so sanctimonious about the need to build character in those who are receiving public assistance by weaning them from it"

When we review Turner's and Hoover's responses to the board's findings we cannot help but feel a sense of complete betrayal by these six-digit-salary bureaucrats. We, as HRA administrative employees, feel betrayed because the high standards of professional and ethical conduct—"Professionalism, Accountability, Integrity"—that Turner's administration feels so compelled to enforce on the rank-and-file workforce of HRA are the very standards that urner, Hoover and their cronies have failed to achieve in their own daily job performance. These unreasonably privileged politicians have clearly demonstrated irresponsible ethical conduct to all HRA employees and New York City taxpayers and have broken the public trust that government employees must uphold.

When we study further Turner's and Hoover's careful choice of words in their responses, we also feel a deep sense of outrage. We are outraged by the contempt they display towards the Ethics and Conflict of Interest Rules for HRA Employees. They describe their misconduct as "technical violations." They defend their unethical conduct by making references to Mayor Giuliani's publicized statements praising them for their achievements. Clearly Mayor Giuliani would like HRA employees and New York City taxpayers to believe that the city's implementation of welfare reform programs is more significant than the unethical conduct of the administrators responsible for implementing them. Turner and Hoover show absolutely no sign of shame or regret for their misconduct. Turner is nice enough to assure us that he will be careful in the future to comply with the city rules now that he has been made aware of them. We are actually being expected to believe that the commissioner carries out his daily professional duties on some elite level where it is quite normal and understandable for these city rules to be unknown.

Commissioner Turner, please, stop your BS and give us a break!

Let us then, as HRA administrative employees, resolve to not have our intelligence insulted by this unacceptable rhetoric coming from these manipulative and shifty politicians. Let us remain committed to giving an honest day's work despite the dishonesty, disparity and greed we now observe at the highest levels of HRA. Let us demand that "professionalism, accountability and integrity" be the standard at every level of this agency. Above all, despite the corruption and demoralization ever so present in HRA, let us each continue to maintain our individual integrity by finding some positive value in the work we do each day.

Tom Joad is a pseudonym

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