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UI professors found in violation of Ethics Act
By Maggie Sullivan | 09/28/15 12:15am

Nearly two years after physics professor George Gollin's unsuccessful campaign for democratic congressional candidate, three University professors became the subject of an ethics investigation by the Illinois Executive Commission.

Leon Dash, journalism professor, Nancy Blake, literature professor and Laura Greene, physics professor, were found in violation of the Ethics Act which led to the investigation.

"Any violation of the Ethics Act's prohibition on use of State property or time for political purposes is serious enough to warrant inquiry," said Daniel Hurtado, chief of staff and general counsel of the office of executive inspector general.

Dash said he was considered to be in violation of the act because of a one-sentence email reply to Gollin, sent to his University account, in which Gollin asked Dash to introduce him as a candidate at a local Democratic Party meeting.

"I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican," he said. "But I became wrapped up in an ethics violation after responding to a request from a colleague with whom I am friendly."

Dash said he realized in hindsight he was in violation of the Illinois ethics regulations because it was connected to partisan political activity and not a part of state or University activities.

In a public statement to the Office of the Executive Inspector General, Laura Greene said she did not intentionally violate the act, and therefore, the law does not apply to her situation.

"It is abundantly clear that an unintentional and inadvertent use of a State email account for a political purpose is not a misappropriation of State property," Greene stated.

Additionally, she said she felt the findings ignored both the facts and the law.

"I have been a long-time zealous advocate for the University of Illinois, as well as a tireless and ethical professor of physics," Greene said. A couple of email exchanges that inadvertently took place on my University email account and that were not even initiated by me simply do not justify the conclusions in the report."

Dash said he met with two investigators from the Springfield Ethic Commission office in May 2014.

"One of the investigators had called me to set a meeting date and indicated I was the subject of an ethics violation, but think as I might, I could not recall any ethics violation," Dash said. "When the two investigators met with me, they showed me my one-sentence reply to Professor Gollin."

Dash said he told the ethics investigators the error was an "inadvertent mistake" and he said he felt they were doing their job.

Hurtado said Dash, Greene and Blake could have avoided the ethics inquiry by paying closer attention to the Ethics Act, or consulting with their ethics officer.

Robin Kaler, University spokeswoman, said the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act and University policy do not allow the use of University resources for prohibited political activity, and the University takes violations of state law and University policy very seriously.

"The entire experience has definitely put a chill on any future political activity I might have engaged in," Dash said.

Nancy Blake could not be reached for comment.

Quote:U of I Faculty Use Of Work Email For Politics Violated Law: Ethics Panel
September 18, 2015
Jim Meadows

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(Duration: 0:56)

A state ethics panel says three faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana campus violated Illinois ethics laws when they used their campus email addresses to discuss political activity for a congressional candidate in 2013.

The Illinois Executive Ethics Commission ruled that three tenured professors should not have used their email addresses at work for political activity --- in this case discussing campaign work for unsuccessful 13th District Democratic congressional candidate George Gollin, another faculty member previously cited for the same violation.

Physics Professor Laura Greene told investigators her email traffic is so heavy, she didn't consider her two emails a violation. In a later public statement, Greene argued that the use of her campus email account for campaign work was "inadvertent and not intentional", and therefore, not a violation of state law. "Unless the conduct is intentional, there can be no violation", she wrote. In addition, Greene says that the Executive Ethics Commission report found that she violated University of Illinois guidelines, which she notes, "do not have the force of law".

Journalism Professor Leon Dash said it only occurred to him later on reflection that he was violating ethics rules.

And Literature Professor Nancy Blake said in a statement that her mistake only violated university guidelines, not state law, and "ignore the realities of technology in the modern workplace, as well as the nature of the modern workplace itself".

But the Executive Ethics Commission says the state Ethics Act tolerates no exceptions. In its analysis, the Commission stated that "the Ethics Act does not allow State employees to engage in prohibited political activity even though the employee: is a tenured faculty or professors of a State university; did not think about what they were doing (or not doing); describes their conduct as an error which was 'minuscule'; used State resources that only represented a fraction of their email use; or did not think about using their personal email as opposed to their State email."

It found that all three professors violated the law, and while it's not turning the cases over to the Attorney General's office for prosecution it recommended that the university take whatever action it sees fit. That differs from the earlier citation against George Gollin, who was fined $5,000.

When asked for comment about the citations against Greene, Dash and Black, an administration spokesperson at the University of Illinois Urbana campus said they don't comment on specific personnel matters. But Robin Kaler says use of university resources for what's considered "prohibited political activity" is a violation that the U of I takes seriously.

Quote:Ricardo Meza
Officer at Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C.

Illinois Politics, Ethics, and Emails
Aug 18, 2015

The rough and tumble of politics is quite well known and in Illinois, politics and ethics often collide. Far too many local and state politicians, including governors, have encountered ethical challenges. Recently, Illinois congressmen have been added to the list. For example, a now former Chicago-area congressman was recently released from prison for violating federal campaign laws and a now former central Illinois congressman is currently under federal investigation for alleged misuse of campaign funds. Despite this sordid history, many persons still seek the prestigious Office of United States Congress and while most candidates take appropriate steps to comply with federal campaign laws, some overlook (or forget about) state ethics laws.

As political campaigns ramp up, political emails will begin to land in our in boxes. Aspiring federal and state candidates view email as a convenient way to communicate directly with their constituents and community. And, while most candidates and campaign committees are aware of and follow federal ethics laws including the Hatch Act which prohibits the use of federal ".gov" accounts from being used for political purposes, some candidates or their consultants overlook state ethics laws and send political emails to or from a ".edu" account. However, in Illinois, ".edu" accounts belonging to full-time employees from one of the nine Illinois public universities are considered state accounts. In other words, some Illinois ".edu" accounts are the functional equivalent of state ".gov" accounts and cannot be used for political activities.

On June 25, 2015, the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission (EEC) issued a decision involving University of Illinois physics Professor George Gollin, who used his university ".edu" account while seeking the democratic nomination for Illinois' 13th Congressional District to:

• request and receive advice regarding his campaign;
  
• solicit contributions for his campaign; and
  
• coordinate campaign activity with campaign supporters and volunteers.
  

The EEC found that Professor Gollin violated the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act because he used state resources for political purposes. He was fined $5,000. See, https://www.illinois.gov/eec/Documents/06.25.15%20Gollin%20Published%20Report.pdf.

The Gollin decision should serve as a reminder to federal and state candidates, campaign committees, as well as their political consultants, that they should take caution and become aware of prohibitions against the use of state resources for political purposes including certain public university ".edu" accounts. Otherwise, they may find themselves in violation of their state ethics laws and may be subjected to a substantial fine.

(09-29-2015, 09:49 PM)Dickie Billericay Wrote:
George Gollin found guilty of violating ethics law.

(10-01-2015, 05:38 PM)Don Dresden Wrote: Next time--if Gollin is really stupid enough for there to be a next time--it won't be so tidy and just might be permanent.

(10-02-2015, 09:11 AM)Martin Eisenstadt Wrote: I'm sure the only reason his wife Mel hasn't left him yet is that she hasn't noticed he is still alive.

Keith Richards Wrote:This might sound strange coming from me, but you have to leave.