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The situation does not definitively raise an ethical issue, but the optics are troubling, said John Pelissero, director of Government Ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.

“The fundamental question for me is, is the public interest going to be served by the completion of this purchase?” Pelissero said. “Because in any transaction like this, you want the county board to be looking out for the public’s interest, not for the private financial interest of donors, one of whom was also a sitting senator at the time.”

John Pelissero, director, government ethics, quoted by Patriot News.