Word: interiorities
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...applaud, but the French attachment to the nation's patrimoine has sparked "a deeper, wider wave of opposition to this than to any of our other reforms." Is the resistance just misguided nostalgia? Properties the size of the Hôtel Kinsky in central Paris are rare, "but its interior is neither historic nor stately," sniffs Thierry Cardot, whose Luxury Observatory researches upmarket markets. He reckons the shack may go for under half its valuation of €57 million, but notes "better opportunities will come as these sales progress." Apartment hunters, take note...
...Rather than heads rolling for infractions, the Cabinet agency has become a fault-free zone, Devaney claims. "Short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of Interior," says the former Secret Service agent. "Ethics failures on the part of senior department officials-taking the form of appearances of impropriety, favoritism, and bias-have been routinely dismissed with a promise 'not to do it again.'" In numerous instances top officials who leave the department under a cloud, said Devaney, "are sent off with a party paying tribute to their good service...
...case Devaney found particularly troubling was that of Steven Griles, Interior's deputy secretary in George W. Bush's first term. Devaney in 2004 referred 25 possible ethics violations by Griles to the Office of Government Ethics outside of Interior. That office cleared Griles of 23 of the violations but referred the remaining two to then-Secretary Gale Norton for a decision. Devaney says Norton refused, over his objections, to take any action against her deputy...
...Meanwhile, Dirk Kempthorne, who replaced Norton as Interior Secretary last July, insists he's taking Devaney's "allegations concerning issues dating back to 1998 very seriously." Kempthorne points out that his first day on the job he sent a letter to Interior employees titled "Our Ethical Responsibilities." Since then, the new Interior chief says he's been preaching to his workers that when they're unsure whether something is ethical or not, "if in doubt...
...Congress, however, wants to see more than employee pep talks. "The Interior Department breached its fiduciary duty to the American people," says Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, who chairs the government reform panel's Energy and Resources Subcommittee. "It is charged with holding our natural resources in trust." Instead, he complains, the department "squandered billions...