a question of politics & Ethics 2

[bassguy]

hello all, I have a question for the group.

I work for a governmental agency (county government) and the Director of IT works with/on a comitee that is supposed to suggest/steer the directions of the IT department.

I am not on the committee but go to the meetings as a technical consultant. Now here is the dilemma,

My boss, the Director of IT lies to this committee about what is and isn't done.

For example we were directed to Move All of the websites to a centralized server under the control of one webmaster so that we would have better continuity etc. We were directed to do this 6 months ago and my boss has reported that we have done it. Well, we haven't done anything in that reguard.

One of the websites controlled by a different group is horribly out of date (the main page says "welcome to the year 2000&quot and my group plays a game called "how many clicks till it breaks" Usually the winner is about 3 clicks till a 404 or an ASP error.

The problem is that none of the county board members that my boss lies to are even going to the web site to see it. they just listen to what he says is happening then they congratulate him on his good work. I am embarrassed to admit I even work on the website and he is getting Kudos.

Now, is it ethical to point this out?
If it is how do I do it without losing my job?
any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Bassguy

 

[carrr]

Well...if you're in the US, you need to look into whistleblower provisions before you do much of anything. Regardless of your good intent, you may find yourself out the door if things go poorly.
While your intent is admirable, is it your responsibility to provide unsolicited oversight and accountability? It seems to me that in a way, the board members are amenable to being kept in the dark by way of their own laziness. I mean...if you ask for somehting to be done, shouldn't you at least have enough interest to LOOK at the final product?

 

[bassguy]

Yes I am in the USA, Well, Southeast Wisconsin anyways. I agree, they in a way are like Sgt Schultz I see nothing, Nooothing. As far as whistle blower laws, I will look into that. Otherwise, I had thought about letters from the public (o.k. me at a public email) to some of the board members asking about broken links. But there again, is it the right thing to do?

 

[Kjonnnn]

Well ... sounds like your boss doesn't really care or he'd be making sure the work was done that he said was done. (Are you involded in the budgeted process? Your boss may be getting extra money his budget for this project but he's been diverting it elsewhere.)

Sounds like no one on the committee really cares or you'd think SOMEone would have visited these sites and seen how out of date or error-riden they are.

Its hard to be an alarm on a ship that no one cares is sinking.

In trying to make it right, what is the benefit to you?
Will the committee see your tenacity and promote you?
Will they fire your boss?
Will they do nothing and you're left with a boss waiting for revenge.

Weigh the consequences of "making things right."

Or.... just jump ship.

 

[bassguy]

Kjonn,

I like your series of questions, the answers:


In trying to make it right, what is the benefit to you?
I think I am an Idealist, so the benefit would be I was working on something I was proud to work on.


Will the committee see your tenacity and promote you?
There is no where to be promoted to as I mentioned there are only 4 jobs above me and noone in those jobs quits till they retire.


Will they fire your boss?

I really doubt it. He is a strong political fgure and has his nose pretty far up the exec's....tailpipe

Will they do nothing and you're left with a boss waiting for revenge.

this is probobly the most likely scenario


I am wondering if I leave if anything would change (no one ever quits a government job)

I know, if I wanted, I could be lazy and do nothing all day long. I had to build an app that tracks all email transactions and it shows one of the tech support people sends literally 150 emails a day to her friends.

Nothing was done.

 

[carrr]

Is it the right thing to do?

Well, this is the way I look at it, and the way that most laws look at it. Is the public being hosed? Is public money being spent inappropriately or paid to people who do nothing? If yes, then the public is being hosed.
You, as a government employee (I, too, am a public servant) have a fiduciary responsibility to be a "watchdog" for the public interest. Of course, that sounds good in theory, but you've also got bills to pay and a mouth/mouths to feed. You, and only you, can make the call on this. What do you stand to lose if you "rat?" Analyze the situation and commit to bunt....

 

[bassguy]

Carr, do you see a lot of sloth and laziness in your part of public service? Am i just in a place that has the market cornered?

 

[carrr]

It's pretty typical, unfortunately. There are a lot of slack%$^es who make it really easy for Legislators to get behind downsizing public service organizations, because frankly, they can get more bang for their buck in many cases by outsourcing the functions. Trust me...you're not alone. I bite my tongue daily, but find it easier to work harder to pick up the slack...because, probably, deep at heart, I'm a major wuss...no, seriously...it's eaasier for me to grin and bear it than to throw everything into an uproar. And, I've found, sooner or later, the harsh fist of reality knocks the slackards on their keisters and into the job search. Just be sure you don't get taken out with them.

 

[Kjonnnn]

or another option .. u can take it upon yourself and go to your boss and volunteer to do all those things ....

- He'd look great in the eyes of others
- You'll feel good because you made something "right", you'll get no credit for it, but remember you're an idealist.

LOL Choices choices.

 

[xutopia]

I say you download a version of WinHTTrack Website Copier.

Check all the links on the site and do a report.

Send it to your direct boss just to let him know.

"Mr BossName,

I've downloaded a utility to check the status of the links. There are quite a few broken links that I thought I would point out to you. Here is the report :"

How's that? A good thing you have to learn in life is how to criticize people diplomatically in your workplace. Sometimes people need to know things. Sometimes people know things but don't do anything about it until someone points out to them that something needs being done. And then there are the real assholes that know something must be done, prefer lying about it then doing something about it.

You be the judge on what kind of guy he is! Gary

http://www.xutopia.com

Haran

 

[svanels]

Well it looks like the county board members are not to technical, and that stupid that they give orders and do not check. They get what they deserve.

How does an outsider knows if all this data on

http://www.tek-tips.com

is on one server?

To me your boss sees the board like a group of a... and thread them that way.
If you fight him in the meeting, you will turn out an a.. also.

The way I would handle it:

"Boss if you tell shit in the meeting, don't ask me to cover-up" and I would be sitting in the meetings enjoying myself, learning things about the art to manipulate people and figuring out what the board likes to hear (in the future this could be very handy).
Steven van Els
SAvanEls@cq-link.sr

 

[cian]

First make sure you're ass is covered, that you can in no way be held responsible for any of this.
Then you could send an anonymous tip to the board that something is "wrong" ... just a thought!


É ::

http://www.endamcg.com

 

[bassguy]

That was my thought exactly ...hide behind a anonymous email or something

bassguy

 

[xutopia]

cian, bassguy,

That would be in my view very unethical. Think about it!!! Gary

http://www.xutopia.com

Haran

 

[bassguy]

Which brings me to the original question, kid of
is it ethical to do someting unethical in unethical surroundings?

bassguy

 

[skiflyer]

Why is anonymity necessarily unethical?

He's in a situation (assuming Bassguy is a guy) where he has a legimate complaint against unethical behavior... namely lying, being privy to this is grounds for dismissal in any reasonable orginization. However, by coming out about it, he may well put himself at risk, especially if an incomplete resolution is pursued.

Hence, one option available is to be an anonymous "whistle-blower"

Where's the ethical problem with that?

IMO Bassguy, it is not ethical to do something unethical simply because the surroundings are unethical. Your boss is basically making you a liar by proxy, and if I were the board, and found out about what your boss was doing, and knew for a fact that members of his team had sat in meetings with me while he lied to my face you can be sure each one of them would be in for as much trouble as he was.

As suggested above, there are several less confrontational routes you may choose to pursue... but if you decide the proper route is to report the man, I don't agree with Xutopia that it's unethical to do so anonymously.

Excuse my slight paraphrase of the oft used quote by the guy who's name I can't remember... "The only thing evil needs to succeed is for good men to do nothing."

-Rob

 

[carrr]

I'm totally on board with skiflyer. What the (*^% is unethical about informing on a criminal, white collar oor otherwise, while wanting to maintain one's anonymity? This happens frequently and is an form of behavior that simply doesn't get questioned.
Sometimes good people don't act but for fear of reprisals. There is NOTHING unethical about an anonymous tip in this situation, provided the tip is not made on pure supposition.
If bassguy has full confidence in his assessment of the situation, then maybe the anonymous buzz is the way to go. 'Course, when the house comes down and the city council wants to congratulate the brave watchdog, it might be hard to reap rewards, but....

 

[bassguy]

I am not looking for reaped rewards....I would just like a web site and databases that I am not embarrassed by.


bassguy

 

[manarth]

how's about an anonymous tip-off to the boss?
claim to be joe public, having just surfed the site, found the number of broken links incredible, and by the way, here's a report on your broken links.

it would give your boss a chance to redeem the situation without having to put the issue in front of the board.

of course, if he's this slack in one field, it may be there's other stuff he's not acting responsibly towards, in which case it may be better to expose this so the other stuff can also be brought to light.
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[carrr]

bassguy,

Totally understood...just my twisted sense of levity rearing its ugly head.