Ethics and City Hall: San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed Outlines Reforms
 By
Suruchi Bhutani
Listen
to Mayor Chuck Reed’s Talk
In a recent Ethics at Noon presentation, San Jose Mayor Chuck
Reed highlighted the reforms he has initiated since taking office
in January 2007. Reed and two San Jose city councilmembers were
elected in November by a margin of more than 60 percent, which
Reed saw as a clear message that the people were unhappy with
the way city hall was being run before he took office.
To reform city government, the mayor began by focusing on budgeting.
Adopting the doctrine of community-based budgeting, he encouraged
community participation in the process through community surveys
and neighborhood committees.
The second key focus of the Reed reforms was reducing the influence
of lobbyists at city hall. The mayor insisted on full disclosure
to the public of all lobbying activities along with the amount
of lobbying dollars being spent. He believes that full disclosure
leads to public accountability, which in turn keeps the lobbying
influences in check.
These reforms, Reed said, brought about change in the attitude
of city employees, who have started the Employee Values Project.
Through this project, city hall employees have identified six
key values: Integrity, innovation, excellence, collaboration,
respect, and celebration.
Finally, the mayor emphasized the need to reduce the influence
of money in government and politics. He stressed the importance
of campaign reforms and advocated strict control over how much
money is donated to political aspirants by lobbyists and other
vested parties during the election process.
Suruchi Bhutani is a media intern at the Markkula Center
for Applied Ethics.
April 2007
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