Ethics in Government

Although most of my work is in the field of clinical ethics, I routinely provide seminars and assistance in other areas of applied ethics as well, such as leadership ethics, business ethics, and ethics in local government.  The topic of ethics in local government is of particular interest to me because, in addition to my professional perspective on the topic, I was re-elected in May of 2008 for a second term on the Lynchburg City Council.  My experience on Council adds greatly to my understanding of how political decisions are made, and has given me a bank of experience that I draw from when considering the ethical implications of government action.  Recently, media outlets across the country and around the world became interested in some work that I did with the City of Alexandria.

I have had a contract with the Alexandria Community Services Board for some time, and one major project that we completed involved a careful ethical analysis of micro-allocation decisions in the face of scarce resources.  The ACSB Ethics Committee developed a detailed policy and procedure for assessing the ethical implications of allocating scarce resources.  That exercise on the individual level has now become valuable on the broader macro-allocation level as City resources are becoming increasingly stretched.

The Alexandria City Manager asked me to make a presentation to his Department Heads, and later to broader City staff, in order to incorporate an awareness of ethical issues into the difficult decisions that they must make on a routine basis.  Coverage of these issues was published first in the Washington Post, and subsequent interviews have included the BBC World Service, NPR's 'All Things Considered', the Chicago Tribune, USA Today, The LA Times, and the Fox News Broadcast 'Fox and Friends'.

Please contact me at mgillette@bsvinc.com if you would like further information on my work concerning the allocation of scarce resources particularly, or on ethics in government more broadly.  I have provided seminars on "The Allocation of Scarce Resources", "Ethical Leadership", "Disaster Ethics", "Business Ethics and Public Service", "The Ethics of Eminent Domain", and "Practical Ethics For Local Leaders".