What it means to be an ultimate professional

Centreville Township Supervisor Curtis McCall sees Andy Economy as one of the good guys. He’s angry that the politicians have failed to stand up for Economy, who until recently served with McCall on the Metro East Sanitary District board overseeing local levees and sewer systems.

“I’ve known Andy to be nothing but the ultimate professional,” McCall said. “I blame the damn politicians that won’t stand up for him.”

Ultimate professional. Well, now.

Economy was the levee district’s president during the past six years when his auto body business in Madison did $48,454 in business with the sanitary district. Economy saw no conflict, legally or ethically.

Then Economy said while he did business with the district, he never voted to approve the work. Wrong.

Then he said he didn’t remember doing so, and if he did it he only did it a few times. Records show 12 times. Economy even wrote up some of the estimates for work on district vehicles.

Then Economy forgot to report doing business with the levee district on his economic interest statements. McCall said those votes and those omissions from the statements mean little, but they apparently mean enough that a special prosecutor will investigate.

So now we know Economy and McCall don’t take the disclosure statements seriously. What are the odds that many politicians do?

Our political friends don’t need to disclose anything. Wink. Ultimate professionals deserve trust and defense. Wink. Wink.

One would hope these points would be self-evident, but there appears to be a need to repeat them to the good-old-boys and the head-nodders who enable them; Arm’s-length, competitively bid transactions keep costs down; It is unethical to vote on an expenditure than enriches you; Disclosure statements ensure the public and your peers can oversee those standards.

Maybe instead of politicians standing up for politicians, politicians should stand up for taxpayers.

This story was originally published December 1, 2015 at 1:00 PM with the headline "What it means to be an ultimate professional."