Collusion as an Abuse of Authority 

I would like to talk about collusion.  

I would like to see collusion, alongside conflict of interest, personal gain, preferential treatment, and other abuses of authority as part of Vermont’s Ethics Code for Public Servants.

Collaboration is great but the difference between collaboration and collusion is that collusion involves a secret compact actually meant to circumvent controls against unethical behavior.

So if an abuse of authority is more indirect (as a result of collusion) that does not make it any less of an offense – it only involves more parties – purposefully skirting the law.

I realize there is an upcoming public comment/input period for the Code of Ethics but this may end up being the most public way to provide that input.