Spring 2002 Vol. 19 No. 2

• Director's Column
• ASPA Conference
  
• SF 278 Helpful
  Hints
  
• Exemption Regulation

• Ethics Agreement Tracking System
• Frequent Flyer Miles
• EPSD Meetings

• News Briefs
• E-mail List Service
• Annual Conference

We all recognize the importance of leadership in creating a vital ethical culture within an organization. But who are the ethics leaders in a Government agency? Clearly, it is crucial to have the support of the agency head, senior political leadership, as well as career executives and managers, in building and maintaining a strong ethical culture. Agency general counsels and, of course, ethics officials themselves provide ethics leadership. But, in my view, no list of ethics leaders in an agency is complete that does not include supervisors.

Supervisors can demonstrate ethics leadership and play a key role in translating broad ethical statements into the daily work of an agency in a number of ways:

• Supervisors can lead by personal example. Employees may come in contact with their supervisors on a daily basis and often take their cue from them. For example, the way a supervisor handles a gift offered by a prohibited source sends a powerful message to a supervisor's staff.
  
  
• Supervisors can lead by being active ethics spokespersons. Simply paying attention to ethics raises the importance of ethics in the work environment. For example, supervisors can provide information on ethics issues that are specific to the workplace through e-mail or at staff meetings.
  
  
• Supervisors can lead by answering ethics questions raised by their employees. OGE's recent Government employee survey found that employees often turn to their supervisor for guidance on how to behave ethically. By being receptive to employee questions and prepared to either answer those questions or guide the employee to an agency ethics official, supervisors can play an important role in keeping employees on the right track.
  

These are a few of the ways in which a supervisor can be a key resource in promoting a greater awareness of ethics concerns and creating a more positive perception of the ethical culture of an agency. Making the fullest possible use of this resource is a challenge for all of us. At OGE, we are working to develop training that is geared towards first and second line supervisors and their responsibility for the ethics program. I would certainly encourage all ethics officials to do what you can to reach out to supervisors with specially designed training. Bringing ethics to life at the grassroots builds a solid foundation for the executive branch ethics program.

Amy L. Comstock

OGE Director Amy L. Comstock served as the moderator of a panel entitled, "Ethics Officials on the Front Line: The Challenges of Ethics Management" at the 63rd National Conference of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) in Phoenix, Arizona on March 25, 2002. The panelists included Stephen Epstein, Director of the Standards of Conduct Office at the U.S. Department of Defense, Robert Walker, Chief Counsel of the House Ethics Committee, and Mark Davies, Director of the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board.

The panel discussed the challenges of running a top-rate ethics program. The subjects they addressed included examining values-based ethics training and its integration into a compliance-based system, technological advancements and their effect on the ethics program, as well as the leadership responsibilities of ethics officials and supervisors in creating and maintaining a positive ethical culture in an agency.

ASPA members include public administrators from Federal, state, and local jurisdictions and academic institutions. The conference offered concurrent sessions in the areas of ethics and accountability, trust in government, and international issues, among others.

It's once again time for the annual filing of Public Financial Disclosure Reports (SF 278s). In order to assist filers and reviewers, OGE has prepared some helpful hints to aid in the preparation and review of these reports.

Annual reports are to be filed at each agency by Wednesday, May 15, 2002. Those annual reports filed by Presidential appointees confirmed by the Senate (PAS) and by Designated Agency Ethics Officials should be reviewed by the agency and submitted to OGE immediately after agency approval. Likewise, any termination reports filed by PAS officials leaving prior to May 15 should be forwarded to OGE immediately after agency approval.

Reminders

Cover Page

• For annual reports, ensure that the filer's signature date is no earlier than January 1, 2002.
  
  
• For termination reports, be sure to include the filer's termination date, and ensure that the filer's signature date is no earlier than the filer's last day of service in the position.
  
  
• If the filer was granted a filing extension, check the box in the "Comments of Reviewing Officials" section and indicate the number of days granted.
  

Schedule A: Assets and Income

• When reporting Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), filers should fully identify the specific name for underlying holdings, and disclose any accrued income generated during the reporting period attributable to those holdings. While the underlying holdings of an IRA can be Excepted Investment Funds (EIFs), the IRA itself is not an EIF because it is an account that is self-directed and not widely held.
  
  
• For any income reported under the "Other" column, an actual income amount must be reported.
  

Schedule B, Part I: Transactions

• If a "sale" appears on Schedule B for an asset that is still listed on Schedule A and is still showing a value exceeding $1,000, indicate whether a partial sale occurred.
  
  
• If an asset was sold and generated income exceeding $200, including any capital gains, the asset must also appear on Schedule A. If an asset was sold in its entirety, the asset value shown on Schedule A should be marked as "None (or less than $1,001)."
  

Schedule B, Part II: Gifts, Reimbursements, and Travel Expenses

• If a gift of travel is reported, it would be helpful to specify the basis for the acceptance, e.g. "a personal friend" or "agency approval under 5 U.S.C. § 4111." Specifying the basis for acceptance in this way may eliminate the need for further follow-up with the filer.
  
  
• If an employee has accepted a "meritorious service award" with a value greater than $200 under 5 C.F.R. § 2635.204(d) and obtained written approval by the agency, agencies should forward a copy of the written determination to OGE with the employee's SF 278 for retention in OGE's files.
  

Schedule C, Part I: Liabilities

• If any rental property is sold during the reporting period, the mortgage must still appear on Schedule C, if the mortgage exceeded $10,000 at any time during the reporting period.
  

Schedule C, Part II: Agreements or Arrangements

• Ensure that any agreement or arrangement reported on Schedule C is also reflected on Schedule A, where appropriate. For example, if the filer reports a continuing interest in a former employer's pension plan, a corresponding entry should also appear on Schedule A.
  
  
• Ensure that termination filers report any arrangements that they have made for future employment.
  

Schedule D, Part I: Positions Held Outside the U.S. Government

• For annual filers the reporting period for this section includes the previous calendar year, as well as the current calendar year up to the filing date.
  
  
• For termination filers the reporting period begins at the end of the period covered by the previous filing and ends at the date of termination from Government employment.
  
  
• All positions held at any time during the reporting period should be listed, including those from which the filer may have resigned before the end of the reporting period.
  
  
• For each position listed, the filer should provide a description of the organization that is sufficient to enable the reviewer to determine whether a potential conflict of interest exists.
  

Miscellaneous

• Ensure that all sections of the report are complete. If a filer has nothing to report for an applicable schedule, ensure that the "None" box is checked. Note that "None" and "Not Applicable" should not be used interchangeably.
  
  
• Ensure that all report pages, including any attachments, are numbered, and that the filer's name appears on each page.
  
  
• Ensure that unneeded personal information that includes home addresses, social security numbers, and account numbers do not appear on the form or any attachments. For rental property, provide only the city and state where the property is located (i.e. do not list the street address).
  
  
• Brokerage statements can only be attached if they readily disclose in a clear and concise fashion all information which the filer would otherwise have been required to enter on the schedules.