With the state Senate set to hold a hearing Monday on New Yorkâs ethics oversight and enforcement system, we can describe it with one word: corrupt. New Yorkers have witnessed in recent years a total breakdown of accountability at the highest levels of government, and a corruption of the very mechanisms meant to enforce ethics rules. The two most prominent watchdogs â the Joint Commission on Public Ethics and the Office of the Inspector General â are so obviously compromised they have become part of the problem. And yes, we have said this over and over and over again. We are frustrated and sick of it, as we suspect most New Yorkers are. And every good government advocate. And every honest, idealistic legislator and public servant. JCOPE is sham and an embarrassment. The Inspector Generalâs office is a farce.