Comments on: Hamilton, conflict of interest & FT legislature

By: Pilot profiles 21st HoD race « VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local

Pilot profiles 21st HoD race « VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:50:13 +0000

[...] Second, if he is so busy, how will he have time to serve in the legislature and to serve the citizens of the 21st? I believe the demands on a legislator’s time are significant enough to warrant a full-time legislature. [...]

By: What to do about the General Assembly? - Virginia Free Press

What to do about the General Assembly? - Virginia Free Press — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:50:27 +0000

[...] have long advocated for a full-time legislature, most recently in conjunction with the Hamilton affair. As I argued more than three years ago, I believe that we [...]

By: Permanent legislature in Richmond? | Bearing Drift :: Virginia Politics On-Demand

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:54:33 +0000

[...] Vivian strikes a familiar theme. [...]

By: ShaunKenney.com » The Virtue of a Part Time Legislature

ShaunKenney.com » The Virtue of a Part Time Legislature — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:16:39 +0000

[...] Paige sees the problem. Waldo Jaquith struck towards reform, and his recommendations deserved much more thrift than they [...]

By: Waldo Jaquith - links for 2009-08-25

Waldo Jaquith - links for 2009-08-25 — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:04:13 +0000

[...] Vivian Paige: Hamilton, conflict of interest & FT legislature Vivian agrees: This business of a half-assed legislature has got to go. Virginia isn't a podunk colony on the western edge of civilization anymore. Let's stop acting like it. (tags: politics) [...]

By: Hamilton update « VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local

Hamilton update « VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:34:47 +0000

[...] up the issue of compensation of our legislature, even using some of the same examples I did in my post on the [...]

By: Abbott announces ethics reform plan « VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:15:13 +0000

[...] be honest, I’m not sure the plan goes far enough. I’d like to see an independent ethics commission, rather than one where the legislators police themselves. With Virginia’s “anything [...]

By: vjp

vjp — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:04:29 +0000

I had forgotten about Andrews.

I’m not holding out hope that there will be a conflict of interest law with teeth in it.

By: Steve Vaughan

Steve Vaughan — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:16:33 +0000

Viv,
Yep. And before it got Croshaw, the COA job brought down Hunter Andrews.
No, we don’t have a conflict of interest law that effectively bans anything, we just require them to report it.

By: Max Shapiro

Max Shapiro — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:26:07 +0000

Another solution would be a state wide electoral education system. Through schools, newspapers, and public airwaves (leased to private companies) we could make it easily possible for anyone with brains and balls to get elected to public office.

By: vjp

vjp — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:21:30 +0000

Do we even have a real conflict of interest law?

I missed the Norment thing. The COA job is one that brought down Glenn Crowshaw back in the day. You would think they would have learned something about that by now.

They do have tin ears on this subject, because they feel entitled. The low pay, coupled with the demands on their time, put them in that position. So in my mind, we need to pay them better. And since it just makes no sense to pay folks and NOT have them work, a full-time legislature just makes sense.

The situation we have now is broken.

By: Steve Vaughan

Steve Vaughan — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:13:19 +0000

Vivian,
I also covered this although we played it inside because, it obviously IS NOT a conflict of interest under Virginia law. That does raises questions about the utility of our conflict of interest law. What I thought was more telling was Hamilton’s “tin ear” on the subject. Whether it’s a conflict or not, his relationship with ODU obviously look bad. It’s the kind of thing that makes people cyncial about government. But Phil didn’t see that at all. We had a similar situation here last year when Sen. Tommy Norment accepted an appointment as commissioner of accounts. Again, NOT a conflict of interest under Virginia law, but something that looks like a legislator getting a plum because they are a legislator. Like Hamilton, Norment didn’t understand why he was being criticized. He didn’t see it from the point of view of an outsider.
As for your proposed solution, I can’t support it. We’ve already go enough members of the legislature are “professional politicians.” Going to a full-time legislature would just encourage more of that.