Ethical Leadership - The experience of JCU's 3rd IBD cohort

Marsha Fudge - United States Congresswoman

Ethical Decision-Making: From an Congresswoman’s Point of View

The Honorable Marcia Fudge
United States Congresswoman (OH-11
th)


Marcia L. Fudge (born October 29, 1952) is the U.S. Representative for Ohio's 11th congressional district, serving since 2008. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes most of downtown and eastern Cleveland and many of the eastern suburbs in Cuyahoga County, including Euclid, Cleveland Heights, and Shaker Heights.

Fudge is the former mayor of Warrensville Heights, a middle-class and mostly African-American suburb of Cleveland, serving from January 2000 until November 18, 2008. She was victorious in her first ever run for elective office, becoming the first woman and first African-American elected mayor of the town.

She was chief of staff to 11th District Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones during Jones' first term in Congress. She has also served on the board of trustees for the Cleveland Public Library.

Interview

1.  Why can ethical decision-making be such a challenge to elected officials? 

Ethical decision making is not a challenge for  the majority of elected officials. Inherently, the majority of politician's have the desire to do what is best for their constituency. Those elected officials who don't practice ethical decision making, are not performing the service for which they were elected; which is the will of the people. 

2.   In your last campaign, how important was it to promote ethical
decision-making? 


It was extremely important to promote ethical decision making in my last campaign. With the current political climate, it is a issue of great importance to voters. It is critical to that in any business I conduct as a member of Congress, I will not violate my own personal morals and ethics, nor the ethics rules of the United States House of Representatives.  

3.  What type of continuing education on ethics do US House/Senate
members receive? 


All staffers of the United States Congress are required to take an Ethics training course upon their hiring. After this course is completed, mandatory refreshment courses are also required of every staffer during their employment.