A Northwest Indiana organization focused on bolstering ethical behavior by local government employees is pleased with the number of general election candidates who signed its ethics pledge.
The Shared Ethics Advisory Commission (SEAC) said 66% of the local government candidates on the ballot Tuesday in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties signed the pledge, compared to just 43% of candidates in the 2023 municipal elections.
The pledge asks candidates for public office to commit to providing ethics training to all employees in their locality, to favor a comprehensive local government ethics policy with vigorous enforcement, and to support whistleblower protections when local government employees file ethics complaints.
Support for the pledge was strongest in Lake County where 86% of general election candidates signed it, followed by 82% of Porter County candidates, and 52% of LaPorte County candidates.
"We’re pleased to report an improved overall response rate this general election with 66% of candidates (35 out of 53) signing the ethics pledge," said Courtney Smith, SEAC president.
"We are happy to see this improvement in candidates formally committing to ethics training for municipal employees!"
A list of the candidates who signed the ethics pledge in each county is available online at sharedethics.com or by visiting nwi.com.
The ethics commission also is encouraging the winners in Tuesday's general election to implement the ethics pledge components upon taking office regardless of whether they signed the pledge, as well as to sign it ahead of future elections.
"SEAC has been asking candidates to sign the ethics pledge for the last 10 years and we will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. This improvement is encouraging, and we hope to reach our goal of 100% signing this simple, straightforward ethics pledge very soon," said Julie McElmurry, SEAC communications chairwoman.
The locality members of SEAC are Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties; the cities of Crown Point, East Chicago, Gary, Hobart, Lake Station, Portage, Valparaiso and Whiting; and the towns of Burns Harbor, Cedar Lake, Chesterton, Dyer, Hebron, Highland, Lowell, Merrillville, Munster, Ogden Dunes, St. John, and Schererville.
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