When people sworn to serve the American people and uphold the public trust abuse that trust, they should not be rewarded with fat severance checks and comfortable pensions.
So, is the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration just doing what the inspector general told her to do?
That is the latest explanation from NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco in response to questions from both the public and members of Congress about why she has taken no action against those NOAA enforcement leaders and agents whose regulatory misconduct has thoroughly ruined the credibility of her agency — and brought unwarranted financial hardship on the fishing industry.
In a scathing, 28-page report released last month, U.S. Department of Commerce IG Todd Zinser cited multiple instances of misconduct by Dale Jones, law enforcement director for the past decade of the NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service. And other attention has focused on the heavy-handed tactics of Andrew Cohen, agent in charge of the Gloucester regional office; and Charles Juliand, head of the NMFS regional Office of General Counsel.
So far, none of them has been reprimanded, disciplined, suspended or fired. And the calls for firing are not partisan.
They come not only from fervent Democrats — such as U.S. Sen. John Kerry and Congressmen John Tierney and Barney Frank — but also from Republicans, such as North Carolina Congressman Walter Jones.
Yet, at a hearing before a U.S. House oversight subcommittee earlier this month — and again at a closed meeting on Monday of this week — Lubchenco had said Zinser advised her "against making personnel decisions until his reports are complete."
Zinser is still investigating alleged document shredding by Jones and his staff — and is continuing to look into specific abuses by agents on fishermen and the industry.
Read the complete editorial at Newbury Port News.