OPINION: Stop making excuses for disclosure form errors

Our series that began last week and is continuing this week on public disclosure by public officeholders began by explaining that they are legally required to disclose their income sources, financial investments, lobbying relationships and other business dealings to shed light on potential conflicts of interest.
The disclosure laws are designed to instill citizen confidence in government, but a joint investigation by the Bristol Herald Courier and News Channel 11 Connects reveals widespread deviation from the reporting requirements in Tennessee and Virginia.
Several painful truths quickly come into focus.
Quite a few public officeholders file these forms late, and some skip turning them in at all. Many fill out the forms incorrectly, claiming they were confused when questioned about their errors. But the forms come with a set of written instructions. Anyone who can read and is diligent would do a better job than the one officeholder who filled out “employer” as her answer for source of income.
Excuses that start as “confusion” end up sounding more like carelessness and disregard.
With nearly 8,000 forms filed each year in Tennessee, Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance Executive Director Drew Rawlins said his department doesn’t have the staff to verify each one. “There’s just no way we have the manpower to review every single statement and ensure that everything is disclosed on those statements,” Rawlins told the Herald Courier.
And several public officials interviewed by this newspaper even said because no one followed up with them, they assumed their answers were sufficient. But work that isn’t checked because there isn’t sufficient staff doesn’t improve in a file cabinet somewhere. And public officials who turn in shoddily prepared forms are not the best qualified for any position.
Some public office holders said they don’t want to reveal the amount of their income, but no one is asking them to do that. The form wants to know where they are employed; where they invest their money; what properties they own; and if they have a lobbying relationship. Again, read the instructions fully and take time to fill out the form correctly and completely.
The public has a right to know these things because elected officials should not make decisions that would enrich themselves, their businesses or members of their families. Their potential conflicts should be spelled out ahead of time and avoided.
Honestly, there is no excuse for public officials to bungle these forms. Their job as a public official is to understand the law, how it affects them and the communities they serve. If they have questions, they should seek out the answers, complete the forms correctly and turn them in by the required date. The excuses they’ve offered are worse than recalcitrant school children.
Those who want to represent the public and seek to become public servants are obligated to give complete answers, on time. They are required to do things the right way to earn the public’s trust. If they are not able to follow the law and fill out these forms correctly and on time, they are not worthy of the positions they seek.