Panel to review delegate's ODU deal has leeway

RICHMOND

Just about every top state official has offered an opinion, but only five people have a say in the ethics investigation of Del. Phil Hamilton’s efforts to land a job with Old Dominion University.

That quintet – members of the House of Delegates’ Ethics Advisory Panel – is charged with evaluating complaints made against legislators.

House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, requested the inquiry Monday after the disclosure of e-mails between the lawmaker and university officials discussing the Newport News Republican’s efforts to secure state funding for a teaching center at ODU as well as a job for himself.

ODU has received $500,000 in annual funding for its Center for Teacher Quality and Educational Leadership, and Hamilton was paid $40,000 a year as a contractor until his employment with the school was ended last week.

Virginia’s conflict-of-interest law bars lawmakers from accepting money for services performed within the scope of their legislative duties.

Hamilton, who is up for re-election this year, has resisted calls to resign his House seat. He has admitted making a mistake and pledged to cooperate with the ethics review.

The members of the advisory panel are Alfred C. Anderson, Bernard S. Cohen, Phyllis E. Galanti, vice chairman John H. Rust Jr. and chairman Wil­liam W. Sweeney.

Two are former state legislators, one is a retired judge, another is a former county treasurer, and the fifth has served on other state government committees.

Anderson, Galanti and Rust identify themselves as Republicans. Cohen represented Alexandria and Fairfax County as a Democrat in the House of Delegates. Sweeney, a former judge from Bedford County , declined to identify himself by party.

Panel members are appointed to four-year terms by the House speaker.

Complaints to the panel are initially investigated on their merits. Those deemed groundless are dismissed.

Complaints that are found to be potentially legitimate proceed to a formal investigation that occurs much like a trial. That process is typically confidential.

From there, the advisory panel can make several determinations. It can dismiss a complaint or rule that a conflict of interest occurred.

Unwitting violations are sent to the House Privileges and Elections Committee, which can seek censure of a member. Knowing transgressions are referred to the state attorney general for possible prosecution. A violation is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

Some panel members said it is rare for complaints to advance to that stage.

Cohen said he recalls only three complaints during his years on the panel.

“I must say, most of them turn out to be non-violations,” he said. “This is not an active job.”

Cohen also is a lawyer and litigated the landmark 1967 Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, which struck down prohibitions on interracial marriage.

Rust is the other attorney on the panel and, like Cohen, formerly represented a Northern Virginia district in the House of Delegates. He now serves as commissioner of accounts for the Fairfax County Circuit Court.

Panel member Anderson served nearly three decades as Roanoke County’s treasurer. He is active in Virginia Republican causes.

Galanti is a Richmond resident and the wife of Paul Galanti, a former Vietnam prisoner of war who has been a prominent supporter of U.S. Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaigns. She has previously served on several state judicial committees.

Each of the panel members declined to comment on the Hamilton inquiry, though Galanti noted the panel usually has its first meeting within a month of a complaint being filed.

Pilot writer Bill Sizemore contributed to this report.

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com