Rodney Mayo’s 10 Point Action Plan
Posted by Sandy on January 1, 2023 · Leave a Comment
I finished reading Rodney Mayo’s 10-point Action Plan for WPB and I have a decision to make. Should I post the story today, New Year’s Eve, when many will be celebrating the New Year, or should I post it on New Year’s Day. I have decided on New Year’s Day as my way of starting 2023 off on a positive note.
What you will read below is Rodney Mayo’s plan for our City and he has to start somewhere, he decided on “Ethics in our City Hall” If you don’t have ethics in government, you are governed by people who are not concerned about the people, they are concerned about their political future and special interest groups.
Below are three links from his campaign and that tells me he is not only going to talk ethics, but he has also actually researched the issue.
Rodney Mayo is not a politician and has said he will be a one term Mayor, as in One and Done. I have never heard him say he was going to do something and not follow through. To me, his word is golden. For those of you not familiar with him please take the time to meet him as he has extended an invitation to his Open House at Mayo Campaign Office, 522 Clematis Street, Wednesday Jan. 4 @ 6:00 PM. Mr. Mayo says he wants to hear from you. Meet him and put him to the test and see if he is worthy of your confidence and your vote. Hope to see you there.
“Below is our 10-point Action Plan in no particular order. We will explain in detail each chapter, why it is on our top 10, and how we plan to tackle the problem. For example, below is Ethics in our City Hall. Next week we will discuss A livable and Affordable City for All. Why not just list them all at once? We would be afraid no one would read all of it, and we want to allow you to comment on each point and open the discussion. We welcome your input.
Someone out there might be an expert in a particular field or have had first-hand experience.
I. Ethics in our City Hall
II. A livable and Affordable City for All
III. Sensible and Responsible Development
IV. Public Safety is Priority One
V. Efficiency in Government is Not an Oxymoron
VI. Transparency is Essential
VII. Our Drinking Water and the Environment
VIII. ACE- Arts Culture Entertainment
IX. A Welcoming Business Environment
X. Friendly, Customer Oriented and Compassionate City
Action Plan I.- Ethics in our City Hall –
“The principal goal of a local government ethics program is to further the public’s trust in those who govern their communities to put their personal interests aside in favor of the public interest.” *
We are introducing the subject of ethics in our local government as the first step in our action plan, for without the strong moral fiber of our elected official’s government ceases to provide for and act as the people’s servants.
Liberti. Masilotti. Exline. Newell. McCarty. Koons. If any of these names sound familiar, they have all been convicted of felonies, and some served jail time; all were local City or County commissioners. It is too familiar in politics for our elected officials to practice a Quid pro quo, accepting significant special interest money to run their campaigns and help them get elected. Often leaving office to work for the same developers, they helped approve projects while in office.
We need to break this cycle.
We will create an ethics code within our City Hall by introducing a broad ethics program with oversight and enforcement powers. We will launch a 3-step program outlined below.
1- Create a Community Ethics Board to oversee any concerns of ethical behavior within our government. Including City administration, building department, parking department and most importantly where all our money is collected and spent in our City budget. It might come as a surprise, although it should not, that our city budget is rarely contested, questioned, or examined. Our City budget comprises over 600 pages of obscure acronyms and confusing charts. A sophisticated CPA would have a hard time reviewing in a month, but we ask our Commissioners and Mayor to approve this budget often within 48 hours. Yet, our elected officials approved our last budget in less than 1 hour with virtually no questions or comments.
A Budget oversight committee will ensure our city budget is accessible to the public a minimum of 30 days before the commission votes on it. This additional time will ensure qualified 3rd party eyes have time to review and allows the public ample time to be present at the budget review meetings and final vote to adopt.
2- We will require commissioners to abstain from voting on any contracts with any company requiring contract approval if they have received any political contributions from that company. It may be surprising to most, but this is not common practice.
3-We will introduce and expand on anti-nepotism restrictions through our local ethics program. Nepotism is generally defined as the bestowal of patronage by public officers in appointing others to positions because of blood or marital relationship. *
Below are excerpts from articles with links to successful ethical programs and research:
The Key Elements of a Local Government Ethics Program
A local government ethics program is not just an ethics code with a series of ethics provisions. Even in a town or small county, other elements are necessary to have an effective ethics program. The most important elements are quality training and timely, professional advice. Also essential are (1) three types of disclosure, (2) enforcement, and (3) whistleblower protection. An ethics program is administered by an independent ethics commission with enforcement authority and a monopoly on interpreting and enforcing the ethics code.
There is one big exception to the rule that government office should not be used for the benefit of its holder and those to whom the holder has obligations. That big exception is politics. A politician (as opposed to an administrator or employee) is permitted to give precedence to his political obligations and to benefit his political career and his political colleagues, with some exceptions. Our democratic system allows elected and some appointed officials to wear the additional hat of the politician.
Elected officials and their appointees often act to benefit their parties and factions, and their own political futures. Many elected officials do what they can to get re-elected or elected council president or mayor. And many mayors have their eyes on higher office. Board and commission members often think of running for council, or making sure their party remains in control of the government.
Citizen Engagement is Key
It is important that community members provide input throughout the budget planning process. Soliciting their input in the local government’s choices further strengthens trust and buy-in. Ways to engage residents in the process include:
• Open houses
• Citizen academies
• Focused discussion sessions
• Needs surveys
The annual budget directly affects where citizens live and work and should be influenced by their needs and concerns.
*Weschler, Robert. “City Ethics Inc.” 2013,
* National Conference on State legislators”
Paid for by Rodney Mayo for Mayor
The end