Of course, we want to thank you for coming and supporting us yet another year.

And my name is El Lisa Murphy.

I'm the chief ethics officer.

And I'm gonna introduce the board members.

We have Chair Chairman Robert Dallas.

We have Tom Clements.

We have Kathea Simulton Tremenia Michael Dial.

And I'm gonna laugh.

We have Chiquita Wright, she's the vice chair at the phone.

We have Lauren Florence, she is our newest board member.

And of course, I want to announce my right hand person.

And if if if she wasn't here, I don't know what I'd do.

Kristen Rogers in the back.

Now, if it wasn't for her and me, I'm gonna do my own horn.

We couldn't do this.

But I I want to thank you for all those that support us.

We truly appreciate it.

I also want to thank and charge it to what they say, your heart or your mind.

Your heart.

Okay, charge it to one of them.

Okay.

Charge it to your mind and not your heart.

Now let me explain how we do this.

We have chicken wings, right?

It's like we're at grandma's table sitting around, and some of y'all at the kids' table.

I ain't gonna say who, because I don't know.

And uh we're just having our conversations.

That's how we do this every year.

And so I want to thank um, we have Commissioner Robert Patrick.

Okay, all right, and we have uh interim fire chief Carter, we have the chief of staff, Mr.

Hardaway.

We have Darnell Fulman Fulham, and he's the public safety director, used to be the fire chief.

Now I know we have other districted to me.

Yes, our district attorney.

What's the term's not?

Oh no.

Oh no, Solicitor General.

Yes, Donna Coleman Stribling.

And we have some staff members.

Now, let me also say that if I don't say your name and you are you want to be acknowledged, I will certainly do that.

But we also have from Henry County, we have the ethics officer, Miss Bullard, attorney Bullet.

We have Terry Phillips present.

And we have some of the most important people, not saying that the dignitaries aren't, but the people that supported us, the employees, and the public that supports us, and we want to thank you for supporting us.

Now, I am going to introduce uh our lovely speakers or our panel in just a few moments.

Now the person who crashed our event is also the first person.

He's laughing, he's smiling, you know who he is.

Damon.

Is it Damon?

Yeah.

Uh-huh.

Uh human service.

Human services.

Come get your t-shirt for crashing our event.

Now you have to know.

You're gonna forgive me for my humor today.

You're not gonna charge it to whatever the mind or the heart, right?

Okay.

Thank you.

I was super early.

I had to be a lot of fun.

You want extra large.

Thank you much.

Appreciate it.

The t-shirts run small, so if I ask you a certain size, I'm not trying to be funny.

Okay.

I got I even up my size.

So I want to thank two of our supporters that they tell us what we do right, what we do wrong, what could we change all the time?

But they've had good news for us, and they've complimented us recently.

So if you're talking.

Right.

Mr.

Benny and Mr.

Cooper, raise your hand and if my daughter is somewhere, maybe she won't.

Oh.

My daughter is gonna bring your t-shirts to you.

I got you, sir.

Well, maybe I got them, Taylor.

Oh, this is my daughter, Taylor Victoria.

She helps out.

No, she don't work for DeK County.

She works for Aflack.

ASLAC.

Mr.

Mr.

Bush.

Raise your hand for her.

Okay.

Now, uh, forgive me for our notes and forgive me for this one, because I'm a preface with this.

I am normally the first one in line for food.

I'm letting you know that.

My daughter said don't do this.

But there is an award I'm gonna give for that, and I might not say the name.

I give you a t-shirt later, maybe.

First, why why are you looking at the person?

Um so I will give you a t-shirt for that.

So my daughter said that's not in good taste.

So we're gonna go.

Now remember, I'm acting like I'm at grandma's house.

We at the big table, some of us.

And uh which which one of you all want to go first as far as the biographies?

Any let's go.

Yeah.

Okay.

It's just as long as it's brief.

Okay, it is.

It is, it is.

I did a truncated version of it, and afterwards, I'm gonna ask both of you, your greatest accomplishment.

Because it may not be on this paper.

All right, so Madam CEO, Lorraine Cochrane Johnson.

She has a bachelor's of science from Troy University.

She has a master's of science from Auburn University.

She has a master's of public administration from Auburn, correct?

Now you correct me if I'm wrong, because I wrote this like 10:30 at night, and I'm asleepy.

Over 20 years of experience in print me media mass communications and management.

Elected as a DeCab County Commissioner from 2018 to 2024.

So she has that experience in Super District 7.

Is that correct?

All right.

2023, she's uh she was elected official of the year in public works by the American Public Works Association.

Is that correct?

2023, Champion of Housing Award by Georgia Act.

2024, Lifetime Achievement Award by uh former President Joe Biden, uh, founder of Embark Youth Farm.

Now I really like this because I spent years in juvenile court and I was a child advocate.

It connects the youth and the community to nature farming and entrepreneurship.

She is the first black elected as CEO of DeCab County on June 18th.

Black woman in charge of one point eight, I ain't say million, billion dollar budget.

Okay, she said Alongside the Board of Commissioners on the 1.8 billion.

Okay.

Now she forgot the most important thing, her staff.

A member of my sorority.

I think we pledged around the same time.

But anyway, uh-uh, initiated.

See, I'm getting the right words.

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated.

So that was kind of a light clap.

All right.

Senator Parent.

Uh with Senator Parent, let me tell you why I ask her.

I asked her because she was the only senator or representative, state representative that actually put our vacancy in her social media.

And I said, if she's gonna advocate, nobody asked her to, she's gonna advocate for us like that.

I got to hear from her.

So that's why I wanted her to come.

She has a bachelor of arts from the University of Virginia.

Some of this I got from the internet, some of this I got from the staff.

She is um she has a jurisdictor degree from the University of Virginia.

She's an attorney.

She is a member of the oldest and one of the most prestigious honorary society's five Beta Kappa.

She was elected 2011 as a state representative for District 81.

She's a state senator, although she may be leaving.

She was elected in 2014.

And your counties, uh, most of them involved the CAP County, correct?

Ma'am.

Okay, and there was another county.

That's right.

Yes.

And I don't know if it was redistricting.

We ain't gonna talk about that.

But I'm just gonna go on.

Litigation attorney for uh Eversheds and Sutherland LLP at one time.

Uh executive director of consumer advocacy organization and Georgia Watch, Board of Trustees for the Friends of Atlanta, advisory board for is it Olmstead Linear Park Association?

Previously served on the board of visitors for Emory University in 2020.

She became an Emory University ambassador.

Uh she served on the women and minorities in the profession committee of the State Bar of Georgia.

And she served as chief of staff, I believe, uh for Senator David David Alderman.

All right.

And my personal favorite is what I'd already told you about the social um media.

And uh for a time, I want to know if your greatest accomplishment is on that paper, CEO.

And if not, what is your greatest accomplishment?

Honestly, I would say my greatest accomplishment because I'm an only child.

We have a long line of that, is honestly being a mother.

Uh, because that was something that I never expected because I worked so much, and honestly, you know, your greatest accomplishments aren't on paper.

They are what you live.

And I will say that independent of my family and the people that are around me, that village, there's no way I would be on this paper.

So my daughter.

And she I wish she was here to hear this.

She wouldn't think so.

She's a old mom.

Uh some of you may have experienced her before.

Every now and again she shows up.

And uh yes, but I love her, and I'm very proud of my daughter.

All right.

Well, the CEO stole mine.

She stole mine too.

I'm also a very proud mom.

I've got two sons who are uh 16 and 13.

And right now, feeling um very good about where Mr.

16 is.

Mr.

13, you know, we still got a little word to do.

No, they're they're both great kids, and um you are right, Officer Murphy.

I'm going to I I chose not to run for re-election this time, so I've done 14 years in the General Assembly, and one of those reasons, uh, one of the reasons I decided now is the right time is I do really want to be able to be present for my kids during these critical high school years.

Um I feel like the things that they and I can share now will continue through for both of us for our all of us for our entire lifetime, right?

And so it's sometimes yeah, I've always been very ambitious and worked really hard, and right now I also I'm sure I'll find something.

But I'm gonna be very front of mind that the time to finish raising these guys and hopefully have them be, you know, really good people, productive citizens, ethical members of our society.

That time is right here.

And it done go on forever, right?

So well, thank you uh both.

And thank you for taking my accomplishments.

I don't know if we got together and said our children, but my one child is here, and you've met her, or some of you, and I used to say anyone that went through any of the training with me.

I used to, I used to say that they don't know I say this.

I say I have two grown children, and I I kind of stutter, like I got two kind of grown children.

But as of March, because I said you're grown if you are out my house, you pay your own bills, and what else?

You're over the age 18.

I now have two grown children, and one is in the Air Force.

Yeah.

Yes.

Great.

Yeah, that is trust me, that's progress.

Okay, I'll tell you.

I uh y'all know if y'all got children.

I'll tell you only a little bit about me, and it's definitely not to toot my own horn because I haven't even accomplished the things I really really want to accomplish, other than um motherhood, and I survived a marriage of 14 years.

I'm happily divorced.

I'm just I know if y'all was asking, I'm just telling you.

Anyway, I have a bachelor's of science in a school of technology from Purdue University.

I have a jurisdoctorate from Purdue.

Uh I say Purdue University.

I'm always claiming Purdue, but it's actually the University of Akron in um Ohio.

And um go Bengals.

Okay, whatever.

You got one.

Uh I'm the first black female judge in District 2 municipal court in Hamilton County.

I have 32 years of oh, thank you.

I have 32 years plus as a defense attorney.

I was always a defense attorney too.

Like, came here more of a prosecutor, correct?

Uh 17 years on the bench as a judge or magistrate judge uh in Ohio, uh, Franklin County, which is the largest county in uh Cincinnati, Ohio, which is the third largest county, uh Hamilton County.

Um I was elections attorney for the Secretary of State, Frank LaRose, who's currently in office still, child advocate, guardian at Lydum uh for abused and neglected children for almost three years.

Uh six black magistrate appointed to the history of Hamilton County, which is like 150 years old, uh professor of ethics and business law for nine years at Indiana Westland University.

Uh you know, I'm the chief ethics officer.

I've been here since 2022.

Um I already mentioned that happily divorced, but I have two um, or I have a grandchild as well and a dog.

Okay.

Uh life member is silver star of Alpha Kappa Alpha, and I'm most proud of my legacies and um work working my way through undergrad and grad.

So that's enough about me.

I just wanted to let y'all know I had the credentials for them to hire me, then case y'all, in case y'all wanted to know we're gonna get into it.

Now, the next is how do you define ethics and is it more than integrity?

Who would like to go first?

I'll I'll jump in, go down this way, and then maybe reverse.

Oh, we're just gonna we're eating at the table.

Uh okay, I'll I'll follow my directions.

I'll I'll promise I'll let you you chair the meeting.

No, whatever you want to do.

Um it's a great question.

I mean, the first thing I wanted to mention, um, just to kind of set the stage on how I think about some of these things.

Um, and and I was involved, you know, we've had an ethics board in DeCal for a long time, but it we really wanted to strengthen it and make it more independent and also have a much bigger educational piece for all of the individuals who work so hard on behalf of the county and all of its citizens every day, right?

So I've I've been in involved with all that, and it took us we had a little few ups and downs, but we're doing great um now, and just want to you know say thank you to all of all of these folks who are making it happen.

Um it's interesting because being in public office, I too have a lot of uh ethics rules that I need to follow and disclosures that need to be made whenever money comes into it, right?

Um and I came out of a law firm, big you know, big law, my husband's always been in um private practice, he's a lawyer as well, or as a lawyer for a big company, and there are all kinds of little perks that come, you know, say client, like my husband is now with a big company, so he's hiring a lot of lawyers, right?

From law firms to help do the legal work of the company.

Well, they always are, you know, okay, we want to take y'all out to dinner, and we want to, you know, I've got these tickets to whatever, and so then um, you know, that feels normal, right?

And then you go into the public space, and it used to be at the state capitol where you you could be given tickets to events.

We sort of tightened the ethics rules, which was needed in the disclosure rules for the General Assembly a number of years ago, also since I I've been in office.

But you know, a little back in my head was like, well, wait a minute, like these people at these private companies who are making all this money, not you know, working on behalf of the taxpayers, which sometimes is less lucrative than you know, your your credentials could get you in the private sector.

How come they get to get all these other perks and I'm restrained in many ways by these laws, or it's just a different standard.

And so I think it bears saying that the reason it's so critical is the work that you guys do every day and all the decisions that are made for Jacob County are made on behalf of taxpayers, it's their money that drives the entire entire operation, right?

And that's just not the case when you're talking about the private sector.

It's two totally different things, and when you are um entrusted with other people, you know, and I believe we all have a responsibility to pay taxes and buy into the system.

I'm not trying to, you know, make any allusion that I that I don't, but the point is that it is still a system of trust that has to exist between taxpayers, um, and then they're the government that that serves them, and so that's what makes it such a different thing, and we are, of course, in a time where trust in in government is really low.

Um, and so that makes it that much more important that the actions taken on behalf of all the residents of the county and all the voters and taxpayers need to be done with this this this lens and with these these rules around them.

Um, because otherwise our society can start to break down, right?

So it really does matter.

And to answer the actual question, um, yes, I do think that um both ethics and tr and um integrity are critical for the jobs that we all do as elected officials.

I do think they're slightly different.

I think that ethics is a little bit more, can be a little bit more external, such as the system that we have here in DeCab County with um Officer Um Murphy and and Kristen Rogers and the board, right?

And the regulations that that they've passed and that are in in law that all the employees uh and elected officials are to abide by the integrity to me is more how do you approach them as an individual?

What's your inner moral compass and North Star is it relates to the those external things that have been put into place?

And so I think they're both really important.

And she looks towards me.

Your turn let me say that you know, I made notes because I I wanted to make sure I was narrowly focused because when you talk about um ethics, it's a very important topic.

And I define ethics as the compass that guides our conduct and actions.

And to go a step further when we say, is it more than integrity?

Integrity is deter is what determines how we act and what we do.

And oftentimes the greatest moments of integrity take place when absolutely no one is watching.

When we talk about ethics and we talk about integrity, at the very core of the conversation is one word, and that's trust.

At the time you're elected, everything changes.

Your life is you once knew it.

In some ways, even relationships, because people that you have interacted with forever, all of a sudden, in some instances, because they may be a contractor or a vendor, must now be treated in a different way.

And I want to say that sometimes the friends and people don't understand the change in relationship because I knew you before that, but now I have a new responsibility, and because of that, you have to govern yourself accordingly.

So let me say that when the public sees relationships, it can completely erode trust.

And I want to also acknowledge the ethics board because there were several new faces.

Because one thing about ethics and integrity and how we govern ourselves, because a lot of this has to do even with our worldview.

It is also a cultural thing.

And there's some questions here later that we that we received that relate to culture.

But at the end of the day, it really comes down to doing what is right.

And one thing that I've found, and you know, because of how I've been reared by, you know, this Southern Baptist mom who I didn't realize until I went away to law school, actually, that I'd never heard her tell a joke.

You know, the professor said told a joke, yes, and actually, um, solicitor, I was in class with your brother, and I probably was the only person who didn't get it because I've never been around folks who told a joke, and especially when you're being paid to educate us, I thought, what is this?

You know, and they said, Well, it's just a joke.

But I I've come from a group of very serious people, and the one thing that I'm thankful for, and it also goes back to discernment.

In life, most things honestly are black and white.

It's when you get, bless you, to the gray area that you have problems.

And I would say that if you feel uneasy or in uncertain about a decision, then that's probably not the thing you should do.

Because that's the moral compass that's telling you that this could cause problems.

I like that too.

There was an ethics blast that um you all know what the ethics blast that I put out every month that I put out that got some of the most um I got a lot of comments.

Uh it's culture versus ethics, and I would like for them to talk about it, but I'm gonna give you just a couple of examples of culture, and uh, Madam CEO did touch on this.

Culture is gray, but ethics is black and white.

Uh, beliefs, norms, rituals that may or may not be ethical, that's culture, traditions and habits, culture, difficult to influence and even more difficult to change, culture, traditions of the CAB County.

And just briefly, I would uh a lot of times when someone complains and say it doesn't go their way, they'll say something like, well, you know those people, or you work for the man or or what have you.

I don't know these people.

Uh from I tell them I say I'm from Cincinnati, Ohio.

I don't have any friendships, or especially when I first started, and I practice the law.

So I I don't I'm not you don't know with favoritism or what have you, but that has been the culture of a lot of counties, nepotism, favoritism.

So to uh I'll start with the CEO to give Senator Perrin a break.

Um in your opinion, what is the difference between culture and ethical laws?

Well, when we talk about ethics, ethics is clearly defined.

I think it it dictates a certain course of action, but when we talk about culture, culture affects how we respond and how we act.

Um I I'm reminded of a word called worldview.

Our world view is shaped by our experiences.

And sitting where I sit, what I find honestly that's necessary to bridge the two, because and and let's actually before I go there, let me go back to culture, because most organizations have a particular culture, whether it's good or bad, there is a culture, and in some instances, I feel that what I deal with each and every day has a great deal to do with a culture because often when unacceptable behavior is allowed to continue, it becomes acceptable and it creates a culture, and when people are allowed to act and they're not governed, or they feel, because also I see some people around me who've never had power.

Authority placed in the hands of individuals who do not know how to conduct themselves can be a very dangerous thing.

And it will affect the entire culture of an organization and the outcome, and also it opens governmental entities up to liability.

So for me, I feel that there is always the need to educate.

And immediately I was on the phone calling attorney Phillips because I thought, oh my God.

But it was a teachable moment.

One man's rights end where another's beginning.

That's right.

And we must know where those rights, where those responsibilities begin, and how to govern ourselves.

They have financial consequences.

And those lawsuits are paid by the taxpayers of DeCab County.

Financial.

Secondly, they have political implications.

Also, there are legal consequences.

So the intersection is important, but I think education is the key.

Because most folks, honestly, I feel when I see certain behavior, it is learned, it has been acceptable, and there is a culture.

And the only way to correct that is with education as well as clearly defined KPIs and a firm understanding of your role and your responsibility, and everyone has a place and learning how to operate within it.

Because when we do, we're all better for that.

That's exactly right.

Very well said, very well said.

She sounded like my big mama.

So I I might call her Madam CEO Lorraine Cochran Johnson, Big Mama.

But Senator Perrin.

Now, what do you think is the difference between culture and ethical law?

Yes, I think Madam CEO is always good at speaking truth and being big mama.

That's good, because she's she's the CEO of the entire operation, so that is a very good and important first step to having an ethical culture throughout to have county government.

So without the ethical regulations and accountability, it is that much harder, might not be impossible, but when you're dealing with a large operation where you're gonna have new people hired all the time, you can see that without having clear expectations about behavior, um, clear accountability, and um clear education about what those things are, that is the most important thing, then you can see how the culture can disintegrate pretty rapidly, right?

Um, and if people don't know or don't understand the rules, don't know or don't understand the ramifications of each person's decisions, then how can we expect them to uphold a sense of um a culture of integrity and ethics when they they don't know what that culture of integrity is expected to be, right?

So that is the most important thing.

Um but it does have very very important ramifications.

I mean we we are societal compact, as as we've talked about already, will work when there can be some trust between the government and its citizens, right?

That also matters a lot for everyone's shared future in our county in terms of economic uh development, mobility and attracting um economic interest, businesses and the like that have choices about where they want to set up and where they want to establish, it can really really matter if they don't feel like or it seems to them that the government of DeCab County is maybe not a fair broker, or they may be sort of like asked to do things that they know are illegal to be able to participate or have opportunities within DeCab County, and all that can really really undermine the opportunities that um come to this county and then the opportunities for its citizens.

And that's a very real thing if if um you know job opportunities and economic development employers that can establish themselves anywhere think and they don't now, but we've had periods where it was more dicey, right?

And recently in my life in my tenure where DeCAB was, there were some questions, you know.

We had you know, a few commissioners caught up with the law.

Um we had some pay-to-play type allegations and schemes, and you don't want to be on the front page of the newspaper or leading the evening news about the corruption in in the government, because you know what happens, it it makes all those economic players flee.

So we don't want that.

We want to be able to say, like, this is a government you can count on it.

It's so important for the citizens, most of all, but it's also important for the private sector opportunities that we can that we can bring here.

Now, how does that lead into transparency?

You touched a little bit on that.

Can you just elaborate with as to how important transparency is in your role?

Oh, absolutely.

I mean, so a lot of things that we're talking about with integrity and ethical rules, it's it's often said in um many spheres that sunlight is the best disinfectant, right?

So if things are in the dark, or it's not discussed, then it's that much more likely that there will be these behaviors or schemes that do start to run afoul of what the standards that we really want to see our county uphold and our our county government uphold.

So if sunlight's the best disinfectant, then the transparency is critical.

And that means that folks should the cult we want the culture to be that folks are empowered and they people should share with um the ethics, the board, the ethics officers, if they are seeing things.

It's kind of like they say with the the police.

See something, say something.

And that's how we can build the culture of transparency that will allow our ethics laws to work and our culture to be appropriate to stop things before they would ever even happen to the betterment of everybody.

I know that um I grew up in a neighborhood, and probably a lot of you all where you didn't tell, you didn't disclose, and there's a rule here, you have to identify the issue or conflict, and you have to disclose it, and you have to recuse yourself of that.

And so it's important that even if you grew up in that environment where I'm not telling, I'm not no title tell, or whatever they say now, you have to disclose in the Cab County because it's actually the law, it's not our culture, it's the law.

Um, Madam CEO, with regards to transparency, what do you think about that as far as DeCab County employees and public officials?

Uh let me say that creating an atmosphere where people feel emboldened and able to be transparent is important.

Let me say that creating an atmosphere where people feel emboldened and able to be transparent is important.

I never want anyone, and I I repeat this all the time as we have our different our 34 department heads come together every other Friday at our meetings, that it's really important that we create an atmosphere and a culture where everyone feels comfortable sharing information and also speaking up when there is a potential issue.

And oftentimes I want to use the term I was always taught perception is reality.

Really doesn't matter what I think it's more of how you feel.

And to put this into legal terms, um, the only difference between assault and battery is batteries, harmful or offensive touching.

But every battery has an inherent assault.

So I want to ensure that across DeCab County that people feel comfortable if there's an issue, please, because sometimes what I've seen are teachable moments, and if you catch acknowledge and act upon improper behavior early enough, then we can prevent bigger problems down the road.

So when we say, I think the see something, say something, and also the best disinfectant is light.

That's a new sentence I'm gonna carry with me.

Shed light on it, share it with the appropriate team member or director or department head so that it can be addressed immediately, because as I expressed earlier, actions have consequences, and we never want to be guilty of not taking action.

And there's also the word fiduciary.

When you know certain actions have occurred, we honestly, as electeds, are frontline.

We are frontline reporters.

We have a fiduciary responsibility to act so that we correct behavior because at the end of the day, I want everyone in the cab to have the best possible work environment.

Um I've seen people who mean well do bad things.

I've seen people who truly, I believe they mean well, but their behavior would have consequences if challenged in a court of law, and that's not where the CAB County money is best spent defending lawsuits because we have people who fail to govern themselves and truly don't understand the consequences of their actions.

And I'm a taxpayer.

Okay.

Thank you.

We only have about 10 more minutes regarding this, and I have uh several questions left.

However, um I want you all to choose which one you want to answer.

Um, how can we encourage the Cab County employees, public officials, and citizens to report concerns about ethics, retaliation in the workplace, let's talk about it.

Or what are two ethical challenges you have faced in your career, and do you think you would have faced them if you were not a woman?

Oh, y'all like that one?

I guess I think we're gonna have to I'll get this one started.

You know, I I am certain, you know, and I thank God that I've been around long enough to girth my tongue and know when to speak and when not, because there's a time for everything.

And oftentimes I receive emails that are so inflammatory and so out of order and so disrespectful that the only reasonable and prudent explanation for what I'm reading is the fact that there is a lack of disrespect for me.

I don't want to say that it's women, I don't want to say that it's because I'm a woman, but I will say that I have noticed that there are individuals who treat me differently than I've seen them treat men who've sat in the same seat.

But the question that I'm gonna answer, because this was really I I I am a writer, you know, I used to manage a newspapers.

Uh two ethical challenges you faced in your career.

Um, and I said two ongoing challenges that come to mind for me is maintaining transparency during sensitive situations, and also ensuring that I remain impartial when time and pressure requires quick action and response.

Now, if you'll allow me to explain, oftentimes when information is brought to us, it requires me to engage everyone from HR to sometimes the law department, because every action has a certain reaction and a course of action that should happen.

And oftentimes during those periods of research and analysis and fact-finding.

But because they know you, they feel, well, you have the ability to legislate morality and decency, and I need you to handle this.

And often they don't want to hear that.

But as you go through the process, and it is a sensitive situation, a good leader allows the research and the proper authority to reach the necessary conclusion.

Because if I were to make decisions sometimes based upon what I'm told, I would be completely out of line.

The second half of this is the pressure for quick decisions, and often that comes mostly to me from the media.

You will receive an email that says, and I'm not sure I'll well, okay, I'll use an example.

We're still at the dinner.

Yeah, we're still at the table and the kitchen table now.

We don't move for the time.

I will share this.

Received an email that said you're getting rid of the police department.

What are you gonna do now to keep Stone Mountain Park safe?

It was a series of questions, and I had no idea what they were talking about.

And first and foremost, DeCab County has 12 municipalities.

There's 12 cities, each with their own governing authority and charter.

So I was able to immediately narrow this down to this is concerning the city of Stone Mountain.

That's why I know not what they speak.

Okay.

I have an ill imagine this, an ill-informed reporter.

Yeah.

So after doing some due diligence, we were able to guide them in the right direction.

But it was clear from a trained eye that there was an expectation for a knee-jerk reaction that would perpetuate an outcome and create a hysteria within the community that we no longer support policing.

And although they said they were on a deadline of an hour, that old saying, an emergency on your part constitutes absolutely nothing on mine when it requires reasonable and prudent decision making.

You will wait until I have thoroughly researched this matter, and I will respond to you at the appropriate time.

So I say that to say I wish people would stop being so inflammatory.

He was.

Um, and this is relevant for local government, um, of course, but in terms of the type of office you sit in, it's probably at times a bit more relevant across the board for state and federal elected officials is just the amount of money needed to run campaigns and to try to flip seats um in terms of partisan control, get and maintain a majority caucus, and the reality of where the laws in our country are right now, um, due to the Supreme Court, uh Supreme Court ruling from a number of years ago, a decade or more actually, probably 15 years ago, to me is you know, where they basically said money is speech.

So, you know, you can have certain limits on contributions to these individuals, but you know, corporations will be treated like people and the like, right?

One of the problems is that you have to engage, like I'm chair of my caucus.

So we're always, of course, like any caucus that's in the minority, we're in the minority, we're trying to win seats currently held by the other team so that we can have a majority and therefore begin to implement the policies that our voters really care about, right?

Well, you can't do that without being able to advertise and um have the money to run campaigns historically, and especially since this Supreme Court decision, Citizens United, it's the corporations that you know, sometimes we call them special interests or whatever, but really it's power, it's it's interests that already have a lot of money and are very powerful, utilizing that structure to further their own power and money.

And there is, and that is a huge huge thing in politics right now.

I disagree with it.

I think our system is basically like legalized corruption, and there's no way around it.

The problem is right now there is no way around around it, because the Supreme Court ain't gonna do anything, clearly.

So you just have to grapple with that, and it's very difficult because it does mean that there's all this opportunity for the the lobbyists who you know are all hired by all the big corporations.

Um, you know, they run down there and try to get a tax break just for their industry or whatever it is all the time.

Uh that's just one example.

But they also might sort of allude directly sometimes, indirectly, other times, that if you aren't with them on this bill they want, well, they you know, you can kiss any support for your re-election campaign, and you know, since I'm caucus share, right, by extension, that could hit the caucus, um, goodbye.

You can kiss all that goodbye.

Well, that's a real ethical dilemma.

I agree with what you said earlier, madam CEO, about if you feel some like internal unease, like it's like we can all rationalize things different ways.

I can rationalize.

That's one of the problems in in the type of position I have is that people not infrequently will be like, well, I shouldn't really do that, but if I don't, I might lose because I might not get the check, sorry, and then someone worse will be here, right?

You can like rationalize all kinds of different ways.

But the point is if you're doing that and you've got that kind of like internal unease that's making you have to rationalize as to why you should do the thing, probably means you're doing the wrong thing, right?

And you need to listen to your internal moral compass or internal integrity and not do it.

But you know, so so and here's the other problem is these check writers are always there.

Like regular folks don't have lobbyists who are always showing up.

But these all these interests that are already really wealthy and powerful do.

And so they're the ones that get the most attention, and the most outcome of what they are seeking.

And I point I pointed this out, it's not like people don't know it, but I made a point to say that in my farewell remarks on the Senate floor to say this system is not working, it is good at being responsive to donors and people and groups that have hired people to be in our face all the time and take us out to dinner.

So it doesn't put the best people in office because they may not have the funds or the lobbyists.

For sure corporations.

But that's but that is kind of a tangent, and I'm sorry, I went for sure.

But the point is that that is always an ethical dilemma.

And so for me and for for the people I serve with, what we need to do more than we do, is remember who sent us there.

That is who we are accountable to, and that is who is paying our paycheck.

And it is a shame that it is so easy for it to go sideways.

So what it really gets down to is needing the individuals who are in the type of job I'm in to have courage and to have integrity, right?

And to abide by your own moral compass by remembering what is my North Star.

Who sent me here and who am I responsible for?

And yes, I I find that right now it's not always the easiest thing to do.

And we need to elected officials do need to do a lot better with that.

But it's it's it is it's the it's the culture, it's the education around it.

But the voters are the ones ultimately with the power.

And what that does too is it does mean that voters need to educate themselves, maybe even it's just a Google search about X person.

Are they just carrying water for some big company and not doing what the voters want?

Let me tell you, yes, they are.

So but but X company is giving them a ton of money to advertise to say how great they are, right?

So you just gotta you gotta like or just email me and I will let you know, right?

But you know, I mean it it's a challenge, it's a challenge, and we have to navigate it every day.

And the point is just to have that sense listen to your inner moral compass.

And as far as as as women, yes, I do think a lot of these interests, as well as a lot of my colleagues, um, they regard women as more uh softer targets, maybe not on certainly not on not having an ethical compass or integrity, but but in terms of the bullying, yeah, can really be present, um, I think even more with women, and because the reputation would be that women would want to avoid conflict more or be people pleasers more, so therefore you can get these behaviors that are more like bullying um at the Capitol, and um I do think some of that is absolutely absolutely related to gender.

Well, we want to thank you, and we're gonna give away some more awards.

Let me um tell you that I I love the staff of each person, they're so responsive, and they um they're you know, they're like your cousin or what have you, and if in fact, one of the uh people on the CEO staff, she said something to me yesterday.

I was like, what?

She said, I know your aunt Donzella.

I was like, nobody can make that up.

But uh and I don't know if she's here today, but she she knew my whole family.

Uh-huh, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Um plug that again.

But um I I love that because you know their titles, but they reach out to uh each one of us like you know, the relative or how they want to be treated, they treat us the way uh we want to be treated, and we want to thank you and we want to honor them uh with a couple of awards, and Miss Rogers is gonna bring it up, and while she's bringing it up, if you attended every all three years, can you raise your hand?

Been here for two.

No, I okay.

And okay, now the support is already gave y'all y'all t-shirt.

Now Miss Mr.

Buford, Miss Is it Dion?

Dion.

And the one other person, um is it high toll?

Oh shoot, I always get that wrong.

Latine, you're right.

No, that part.

Three of you all see my daughter afterwards, and we're gonna give you a t-shirt.

Okay.

And um, Miss Taylor, if you could hold up the t-shirt so they can see them, or um Kristen.

Not you, not your hand, the t-shirt.

They they say the Cab County on there, and we have different sizes, so if you supported us all three years, we want to thank you for that.

Um, and Miss Rogers is gonna bring the souvenirs or the awards because we're so grateful for them to support us.

And and let me just pop in and say thank you to Ms.

Rogers, and let me say thank you also to you, um, because you know, I joined the Board of Commissioners in 2019, and I am keenly aware during that time.

Oh my god, there was so much going on, and there was a restructuring and there was funding, and there were people leaving and there were people coming.

And I, you know, am happy to see that the board is reconstituted.

Um, everything has its place.

And and also as I was sitting here, all these things rushed to my mind, and I just want to say to everyone that ethics is not about gender, it's about making decisions.

And everyone in this room controls the outcome.

And when we make proper decisions, we don't have adverse consequences.

It avoids the ethical issues.

So for me sitting where I sit, I'm committed.

Um, but please give me a warning next time before you send out the scenario.

Because when I read it, my first thought was, oh my god, who's done this?

Uh and this has consequences.

Because I thought it was a report of what had actually occurred.

So thank you, and thank you for the ongoing training because I really believe that it's it's important.

Well, the sad news is I hate to bring it to you.

The examples I give are the examples I've had.

When you see when you see the ethics blasts.

Well, there you go.

Back into our culture of see something, say something, right?

And sunlight being the best disinfectant.

Thank you all so much.

Thank you.

Appreciate all the hard work all of you do for this amazing county.

And we want our chair just to give remarks.

This is uh Chair Robert Dallas.

We have a microphone, right, Taylor, for Chair Dallas.

What are we doing?

Uh Chair Dallas is gonna oh she has a issue a few remarks.

First of all, thank you to each of you for being part of our panel.

And of course, uh our staff uh who put this on, give them a round of applause.

Thank you.

This is not easy, it takes a long time.

And uh our board members, do any of you have anything you'd like to say?

You've been introduced.

Uh, but thank you for serving on the board.

It's a completely volunteer organization.

We don't get a penny to do it.

We get to pay for our own gas.

So I'd like to say for me, it's about what in terms of what ethics is, is about the trust of the public.

And too often today, I think what we do is conflate.

Well, they don't agree with me on an issue, therefore they are unethical.

That's not what ethics is.

The idea really is that if we can understand these communications, whether we agree or not, what the person in charge of carrying pains out does so in an ethical matter.

So I may not like a policy, but I can assure you everybody wants it to be executed in an ethical manner.

That's where the trust I think comes in, and the dialogue can continue.

So all of you here.

The leadership of DeCAD County uh represents so much of that.

Because you are faced on a daily basis with ethical dilemmas.

And some are easier than others.

And as a CEO correctly said, some take time to resolve.

And you know, you want perception of fairness, transparency, allowing people to understand things, you understanding them.

So that dialogue allows us to conclude things were done the way we want them to be done.

And that's why I think our board volunteers.

Why we who believe and love the Cat County, wherever we live, know that for DeCab County for us to succeed, the Cap County should succeed.

And this is our part of helping to do that.

But again, without each of you here, without your employees, having a good understanding of that, then we won't have the trust of all the citizens.

But with that understanding, we will have the trust.

And we will do what I've always said about the care county, which is make it achieve its great potential.

We have all the ingredients in so many ways we did.

But you know, like a more perfect union.

We will constantly work to make it better, but you can't do it without really strong ethics.

So thanks you.

Thank you for being here.

I I personally appreciate it, and look forward to uh any time.

You can come to our meetings, you can watch us on TV.

Uh but if you have questions of us, of course, bring them because that's part of what we do.

We answer that hypothetical.

And the goal is prevention, education to get to prevention.

Of course, we're there when circumstances uh require us to rule.

So uh again, thank you.

And I want to turn it back over to our our our I want to say our our MC.

Great stories you tell.

Ohio.

Is that a state?

I'm sorry, did the chair say something?

Yeah.

Um I have one last award, and I know it's lunchtime, so a lot of people had to go back to work.

But this is my favorite award.

It's the first person to raise their hand to say that I am the best ethics officer in DeKab County.

Got it.

All right.

Just go to my daughter and you get your t-shirt.

Yes.

All right, thank you so much for coming.

And if you want um some more food, I will talk about you, but you can have some more.

And we have more um uh what is it swag, but you know, we got that $40 limit, so you know if you want a little bit something else, just pick one, you know.

Yeah.

All right, thank you so much.