States can make life difficult for local government ethics programs.
For example, according to
an article in the Baltimore Sun on Sunday, in Maryland, local governments
have to use the same rules for access to ethics disclosures as the
state does. And the state's rules are designed to prevent access.
As we know, the devil's in the details. In government ethics codes, this means
the language. In the case I will look at here, the devil's in the
verbs.
According to an
article on the WTSP-TV website last week, a Florida state
senator who lobbies for a sports team seeking taxpayer subsidies
relating to payments on its sports arena...
According to an
article this week in the Sun-Sentinel,
the Broward County, FL commission is discussing changes to the countywide ethics program, focusing on gifts and ethics advice.
Gift Bans
Conversations about the problems with gift bans are like Hollywood
monsters: they never die (see...
According to an
article this week in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
the new mayor of Poplar Bluff, MO is a gadfly who had been totally
ignored when she questioned the dealings of her town government.
This is generally a sign of a very poor ethics environment.
Here's an interesting conflict situation from Louisiana that
involves a good intra-governmental revolving door provision and unforeseen circumstances. According to
an
article today in the Advocate,
the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board made the wise decision to
ask the state ethics board, which has jurisdiction over local
officials, whether it could hire the city's...