Ethics in government was the first subject of last night’s gubernatorial debate in Memphis—the second of three. Governor Phil Bredesen says he’s done a good job of tackling ethical problems in state government.
“There are going to be things that go wrong. And to me the test is, what the public is looking for is that when that happens, you deal with them fully and completely and learn from what has happened to make sure those things don’t reoccur in the future.”
Republican candidate Jim Bryson blasted Bredesen for his handling of the Tennessee Waltz scandal, where several legislators were arrested on bribery charges. Bryson also criticized the ethical problems within the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
“We’ve had issues in the administration as well with sexual harassment claims that were investigated and then the documents were shredded. We’ve had issues in the highway patrol as well that need to be dealt with. Cash promotions within the highway patrol, ticket fixing, and then with the file on ticket fixing not being released. That’s not open government. We need to hold people accountable.”
The candidates also touched on crime rates, medical liability reform, health care and taxes. The next debate is this weekend in Nashville.
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