The Scoop: Voters can set up own sting at polls
I just love the response state Rep. Charlie Curtiss gave me yesterday when I asked him what he thought about even more ethics legislation on Capitol Hill. This comes in the wake of four state lawmakers being arrested for accepting bribes.
Curtiss said more than any new rules, voters need to start paying attention and stop sending crooked politicians to Nashville.
He was of course referring to state Sen. John Ford, who was one of the four lawmakers arrested. The FBI says Ford accepted $55,000 in bribes to encourage business deals between the state and a bogus company the FBI created called E-Cycle.
Yesterday’s charges are by far the most serious for Ford, a politician who has weathered 30 scandal-filled years in the state Senate. It brings to center stage one overwhelming question: How has Ford managed to hold his office for three decades? Why do the people of Memphis keep electing him to represent them? Can’t they find a more honest man in West Tennessee?
The easy answer is to play the race card — a card I don’t like to show. But the fact is Ford is black and he represents a district that’s located in inner-city Memphis. I suppose it’s also appropriate to note Ford doesn’t even live in the district he’s elected to represent, but that’s a technicality which hasn’t seemed to bother anyone.
Ford has been the target of investigations of the Senate Ethics Committee, the state Registry of Election Finance and federal grand juries in Memphis and Nashville. He was paid over $400,000 by a TennCare contractor and has somehow tried to convince people it was for legitimate work.
The only thing I can surmise is the inner-city people of Memphis are so out of touch with the issues, they believe the 5-second sound bite they see on the news where Ford says, “I’ve violated no law.”
In the case of John Ford, the voters should have woken up years ago and stopped putting this man in a state leadership position. As a result, largely, of one voting district, the entire state has been taken down a road of corruption.
The sexy topic on Capitol Hill this legislative session has been to fight dishonestly with more rules. But as Rep. Curtiss was quick to point out, “A crook is going to be a crook.”
That’s why I think you can take all the recent ethics legislation that’s been passed and toss it in the trash. The dirty politicians, the ones looking for bribes and handsome campaign contributions, don’t care what the rules say.
Just look at Sen. Ford. About the time he was voting in favor of tighter ethics regulations, he was accepting $5,000 payments. According to the FBI, Ford received four such payments of $5,000 since the beginning of this year.
And here’s the kicker. One day after Ford made his famous, “I have violated no law” crusade before the Senate Ethics Committee on March 16, the FBI says he received $5,000 from E-Cycle on March 17.
No new rules or new pieces of ethics legislation are going to make Ford walk a straight line. Accusations of wrongdoing follow him around like a lost puppy and he never breaks stride.
It’s up to voters, as responsible citizens, to weed representatives like Ford out of state government. How many times can he be caught with his hand in the cookie jar? Ford can’t take bribes and influence state contracts if he’s working in Memphis as a funeral director, his chosen profession.
State Rep. Judd Matheny told me yesterday’s arrests needed to happen to restore the public’s faith in the General Assembly. A house cleaning was in order.
Matheny is right, but folks should remember FBI investigators aren’t the only ones with access to a broom. Knowledgeable voters can fight to clean up Capitol Hill every time there’s a state election.
James Clark is editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at editor@southernstandard.com.