ED GORE Ethical Failings & Censure- Part II

In Part I of our post regarding Ed Gore’s ETHICAL failings we highlighted the decision to publicly censure him for his actions as a member of the Hamilton Township Board of Education. In his appeal of the State Ethics Commission decision, Gore expressed concern about the Censure sullying his reputation in the Hamilton community.  He used every procedural ploy, twice filing appeals to delay the decisions for nearly 8 months. It shocks the conscience that Mr. Gore never grasped the nature and magnitude of his purposeful acts. Gore ever apologized for his actions and the negative impact his intimidating actions had on Hamilton BOE employees. Instead, Gore argued that the addresses of Board employees were public information and his 1^st Amendment right to free speech permitted him to send the intimidating letter in an attempt to sway votes and influence the election outcome.

The State School Board was so shocked by Gore’s behavior they said the following:

Gore obtained the information solely for his own political purposes....the inappropriateness of his conduct is aptly demonstrated by the fact that the letter was constructed so as to convey the initial impression that it related to official Board business and was sent out...over Mr. Gore’s signature as Vice President of the Hamilton Board of Education. The sanction is for using his position as a member of the district board of education to obtain the home address of vulnerable employees in order to send them a targeted letter to solicit votes for the candidates he supported.

Mr. Gore... has not yet acknowledged the impropriety of his conduct or comprehended its seriousness. It is critical that members of district boards recognize the importance of maintaining public confidence in them. Central to this is the ability and desire to conform their conduct to the standards set forth in the School Ethics Act. There is no question that Mr. Gore failed to do so in this instance and that the imposition of a sanction is necessary in order to impress upon him the seriousness of this failure.

Yet, at a recent debate, we are told that Mr. Gore said he was a little fuzzy about his public censure and that he thought his actions to help some people were misinterpreted. Are you kidding? That response was intentionally evasive and disingenuous. Can any reasonable, honest person misinterpret the scalding language of the sanction? Then the Hamilton Republicans have the nerve to have Gore speak about ETHICS in their online commercial!

Mr. Gore breached the public trust placed in him when he advanced his own personal political agenda. Mr. Gore, admit the TRUTH! Acknowledge your bad act!! And apologize to the victims of your actions & the voters of Hamilton!!!  Otherwise, you are not worthy of any public office!!!! Mr. Gore’s ethical failures, his refusal to acknowledge the seriousness of his wrongdoing and apologize for his actions, should render him unfit for any public office.

View the State Board of Education Gore decision by clicking the link below:

http://www.nj.gov/education/legal/sboe/1997/gore2.pdf