Dudash: Concerning Kalivianakis and ethics violations complaints

When you hire a professional, you expect professionalism. The recent ethics evaluation concerning Vice Mayor Kalivianakis failed to uphold the professional standards required of a comprehensive ethics review.

Five individuals, including myself, filed 29 charges covering 11 sections of the town’s ethics policy concerning unprofessional conduct and the appearance of impropriety. The town engaged an attorney, whose primary focus is real estate, to handle the case. Despite the number of charges, the adjudicator issued a generalized conclusion of “no violations,” which makes me question if she conducted a thorough examination.

Several charges focused on the appearance of impropriety, having to do with willfully accepting private email communications from a developer, after stating that he didn’t “want these in the public domain.” It took a FOIA request and then additional time for Kalivianakis to finally produce her private email. This initial lack of transparency is a textbook example of the appearance of impropriety, in my view.

An ethics charge involving potential lawfare by Kalivianakis was not adequately investigated. Skillicorn asked councilmembers if they had contact with a developer. Kalivianakis, not mentioning her contact just the day before, proclaimed indignation at Skillicorn’s probing question. Her timely disclosure here would have rendered a related charge against him moot.

The adjudicator’s failure to adequately address this significant charge, and other detailed allegations, calls into question the integrity of the report. Her approach of simply citing whole sections of the ethics policy without a detailed analysis of each related violation, while also providing a blanket verdict, suggests potential bias and favoritism.

The lack of a thorough evaluation, with clear reasoning, undermines the town’s expectation of a professional and impartial ethics review. Consequently, I support Skillicorn’s lawsuit against the town to rectify the inadequacies of the ethics review process and to demand accountability.

Professionalism matters.

Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.