Week 6 Assignment
Deutsch, Tina M
Walden University

The ethical issues that were identified in the case study of Guerrilla Government in EPA’s Seattle Regional Office were cumbersome. The first of many to create unethical situations was the administrator of EPA’s Seattle regional office in 1981, John Spencer. His staff remembers his tenure for all the unethical actions he took such as using tax payer’s money to buy a membership for the EPA in the Chamber of Commerce (O’Leary, 2014 p. 48). His actions continued even after numerous attempts to advise him that his actions were against federal guidelines and caused serious conflict of interest questions. He also allegedly took several personal trips to Alaska to handle …show more content…

Even though the staff initially felt like using guerrilla tactics was unprofessional, I think they were eventually motivated to use guerrilla tactics as a solution despite the risks to their careers because they were so frustrated with the actions of John Spencer that they felt forced into guerrilla activities. One of the staff noted that they were walking on a very fine line and that they were torn with trying to serve the political appointee while resisting what was perceived as inappropriate behavior. I feel that their choice of guerrilla actions was ethical and that they did make attempts to report the behavior through the chain of commands but the investigations seemed to always end without penalties to those in violation. I also believe it was wise for them to use the media as a guerilla tactic so that the public can get involved resulting in the agency being forced to take appropriate actions especially when the public was in harm’s way.

The actions of the EPA staff members made a positive effect on the organization and public policy because they were able to penetrate the EPA’s corrupt administration and eradicate those who were in the business of doing what they wanted, right or wrong. If it weren’t for the decision being made to initiate guerilla activities, policy reform would be