The Committee of Seventy, hot off of the success of its co-sponsorship of The Next Mayor project, has turned its attention to updating the city charter, arguing (as Sylvester Johnson also recently said) that the police commissioner should have more power to appoint his subordinates and to recruit police officers who don't currently live in the city. My reaction to this was similar to Dan's:

This is a little strange. I understand they are a good government group, so getting their opinion on taking away civil service jobs and moving them to appointments makes sense. But, doesn't it seem strange that instead of being asked about whether they would support a move, they are actually proposing policing policy changes?... (I)t seems more like the Committee of Seventy is either greatly expanding its mission, or that someone asked them to issue this call for change, so as to use their goodwill in the media, etc.

On Sunday, Zack Stalberg appeared on Live at Issue. He said that with the change in office, the Committee of Seventy was likely to shift its attention away from ethics violations (the main issue during the Street Administration) and towards "good government," i.e., efficiency, the quality of city services, etc. The proposed changes to the city charter, then, would fall under how the Committee is now interpreting its mandate.

But even if it's a broadening of focus rather than a wholesale change, I find this troubling -- especially insofar as it seems part of a narrative that with Street out and Nutter in, the city's ethical problems are over and we can move on to other issues. The presumption that a change of the top office holder somehow changes both the prevailing dynamics and universal potential for corruption is woefully short-sighted. [Read on after the jump.]

Efficiency and good management are definitely important. Along with the promise of a less ethically challenged mayorship, Nutter's emphasis on good management and governmental efficiency are a good part of the reason why many people have found Nutter to be an attractive mayor. But we can't keep our eye off of ethics violations, even for a minute. Even if Nutter and the people he surrounds himself with are squeaky-clean, any office holder, any city worker, any candidate, and anyone who does business with the government can find themselves in ethically dubious waters -- as the recent IG investigation of Curtis Jones shows. I think it helps everyone to know that bodies both in and out of government is paying attention.

What's most remarkable about Seth Williams's investigation of Jones and the PCDC is that it looks beyond city workers and even elected officials, and focuses on the seams of government workers, political offices, and the private sector. Another IG could have looked at it and said, "that's a weird severance package" -- or ignored it altogether. Someone enforcing election law could have said, "PCDC probably shouldn't have paid for that campaign sign." But it's the interstices that matter -- and where hardly anyone, despite decades of whispering, has seriously looked before.

The Committee of Seventy, along with the city's media (including its bloggers) have a unique role to play here, not least because they don't have to respect departmental turf like government investigators do, or pause before the technically legal but clearly unethical. They can show where the bodies are buried.

Philadelphians are excited about Michael Nutter, even those who supported someone else in the primary or another party in the general election. This is not least because Nutter's record on ethical reform and personal ethical reputation contrast so strongly with the previous administration's, which never shook off the dark cloud of the 2003 wiretap, election, and the scandal that followed. The IG's office is changing over, along with the mayor, the police brass, and plenty of other positions. The Committee of 70 is unique in that it can continue its watchdog role as an incumbent. It would be a shame if the lure of having a bigger voice in city policy led them -- or us -- to lose this focus now.