Editorial: Ethics should be top priority for every candidate

Ethics are the set of principles that steer someone’s actions. Sometimes they are easy to follow because they are clearly spelled out. Sometimes they are harder to navigate because they are vague suggestions of morality rather than hard-and-fast rules.

There are different definitions for different jobs. The ethics of an attorney or a doctor or a teacher are all specific to their work.

And then there is government.

The ethics of an elected or appointed official sometimes refer to things that would not be a problem in another job. If someone offers a gift to a client in most businesses, that’s not an issue. There’s an entire industry surrounding corporate gifts. The gift bags at the Oscars offered multiple vacations, real estate and merchandise.

But that just can’t happen with government. It might be bribery. It might not. The problem is that exactly where you draw that line is hard to pin down. The Pennsylvania Legislature has avoided defining it with a gift ban for years.

Now it is becoming a campaign issue for the Democrats seeking the Allegheny County executive’s job as candidates are grappling to come out on top of the morality heap.

It started with allegations that Council Councilwoman Bethany Hallam approached state Rep. Emily Kinkead about helping Allegheny County Treasurer John Weinstein keep his seat on the Alcosan board. Weinstein is running for county executive. He denies participating in any scheme to stay on the board.

Then another candidate, former Councilman Dave Fawcett, called for stricter campaign finance requirements.

State Rep. Sara Innamorato, D-Lawrenceville, is also running. She jumped in, suggesting a gift ban for the executive position and all county employees.

Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb wants the county’s top job too. On Wednesday, he advocated for stronger ethics guidelines for the county government.

It is never a bad idea to have better definitions of what constitutes the required ethics. It is never wrong to spell out clearly exactly what is acceptable and what is not. It is always good to have strong guardrails to keep officials on the right path.

But there has been a resounding call for more accountability in government for years. Where has the clamor for this been before? Why did it have to wait until metaphorical shots were fired at one of the pack before the others decided it was an issue worth trumpeting?

Ethics should be the backbone of what government does and therefore they should always be the first thing candidates for any office consider. They should do so because it’s the right thing to do. That’s what ethics really look like.