Wow, this is going to be a long four years:Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell said today he sees no problem with his new Secretary of Commerce and Trade serving on corporate boards while working simultaneously for the state.Well, alrighty then, that's so reassuring! Actually, once again I find myself in complete agreement with conservative blogger Norm Leahy, who writes: "The Gov.-elect sets the state's ethics bar as low as possible in order to ensure a cabinet pick." Or, as Norm puts it, "in classical terms: Caesar's wife must be above suspicion." Unfortunately, in this case at least, Bob McDonnell's lack of an ethical compass with regard to his Secretary of Commerce's conflicts of interest is going to raise a great deal of suspicion.
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...The governor-elect dismissed concerns that it would be a conflict of interest for Sledd to head up business policy-making for the administration while also serving on the boards of major companies doing business in the state.
McDonnell said he could foresee no possible conflicts, but if one arose, Sledd would recuse himself from the issue.
"If there were any conflict from the boards he's going to stay on, then he would obviously not be able to participate in any decision making," McDonnell said. "But we've looked at those boards and we don't think there's going to be any conflict."
P.S. With former "Enron of the Insurance Industry" executive, Bill Bolling as Lieutenant Governor, could this administration end up being the slimiest in Virginia history? We're going to find out soon enough, but to put it mildly, the Sledd fiasco is not a good sign.
