Ethics Committee Administrator

Ethics Committee Administrator in Anchorage, AK |  page has loaded.

The Administrator serves at the pleasure of the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics, a nine-member committee; five public members appointed by the Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court, two legislators appointed by the Senate President, and two legislators appointed by the Speaker of the House. All members are confirmed by the full House and full Senate.

The Ethics Committee Administrator performs professional-level work in multiple administrative functional areas: budget, accounting, public relations, personnel management, purchasing and supply, planning, supervision of staff, policy/procedure review and development, and overall management of the office.

Work is performed within established guidelines and under the general direction of the chair of the Ethics Committee, who serves as a public member of the committee. A new chair is appointed each year at the start of the legislative session. The Ethics Committee meets as needed: approximately seven to nine times a year. During the legislative session, the committee meets in Juneau;

and during the interim, the committee meets in Anchorage.

The ethics component of the job requires analysis to examine many factors related to a fact-specific scenario, application of a substantial body of knowledge of statutes, rules of procedure and at times other procedures in the area of law and legal principles, interpretation of conflicting statutes, review of previous advice and opinions, evaluation of various potential courses of action, and finally selecting a course of action based on the above review.

The complexity of the work is characterized by frequently dealing with issues that lack clearly applicable precedent, are not adequately addressed in established procedures, and often involve conflicting state laws.

The administrator may not be a registered lobbyist. The administrator may not participate in the political management or in any other aspect of a political campaign for a candidate for election to a federal, state, or local office, regardless if the campaign is partisan or nonpartisan, or for passage or defeat of a ballot measure of any type; a fund-raising event held on behalf of a political party or attend a political party fund-raising event;

and the campaign of, or attend campaign fund-raising event for, or make a financial contribution to a candidate for the legislature, an incumbent legislator who is a candidate for another public office or to a person running for another office against an incumbent legislator. The administrator position is apolitical.

The administrator routinely interacts with the media. Attending a public relations/media class would be recommended if the successful applicant has no prior experience in this field. The administrator also routinely conducts investigations. Attending a nationally recognized investigator training class would be recommend if the successful applicant has no prior experience in this field.

Example of Duties

Functional Areas:

Interpret AS 24.60, Legislative Ethics Act, and provide oral and written informal advice to legislators, legislative staff, and the public pursuant to AS 24.60.158. Maintain an internal “Management Activity Log” for reference purposes and consistency of informal advice given.

Prepare for and conduct mandatory ethics training classes for 60 legislators and approximately 500 employees pursuant to AS 24.60.155. Training is tailored to the audience and updated yearly based on changes to ethics statutes and current events. Training is conducted in Anchorage and Juneau and via training videos at the beginning of the legislative session; as many as 15 classes may be scheduled annually.

Review all ethics disclosures for completeness, request additional information if needed, work with the Senate Secretary and House Clerk on publication requirements, and work with the Alaska Public Offices Commission on certain gift disclosures.

Prepare bi-monthly newsletters and “Action Alerts” focusing on current events and recent ethics questions thereby updating the legislature on what is permitted or prohibited activity.

Conduct ethics complaint investigations, i.e., prepare questions and interview persons of interest, research issues, review and analyze investigative materials, prepare reports for the committee, advise and make recommendations to the committee regarding the complaint.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

Ability to work effectively in…