Whistleblowers

Ethics Codes & Reform August 29, 2013

The New ASPA Code of Ethics

It came to my attention in an interview with Professor James Svara, for a paper I am writing for the journal Public Integrity, that in March 2013, the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) made substantial — sometimes beneficial, sometimes harmful, sometimes baffling — changes to its Co…
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Local Government Practice August 4, 2013

Loyalty, Fairness, and Whistleblowing

An op-ed piece in the New York Times Sunday Review today looks at whistleblowing from the perspective of whether people lean toward fairness or loyalty (those who lean to fairness are more likely to blow the whistle on misconduct). This is, of course, a simplistic approach, but valuable nevertheles…
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Conflicts of Interest September 20, 2012

Intimidation as an Ethics Violation

According to an article in the Orlando Sentinel last week, the Florida Commission on Ethics found probable cause that the Osceola County Clerk of the Court "[used] his position to intimidate [his office's] employees in order to enhance his personal and political power." This raises the issue of whe…
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July 27, 2011

Being Wrong II (Summer Reading)

This is the second of two posts looking at Kathryn Schulz's excellent book, Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error (2010), as it applies to local government ethics. This post focuses on how to deal responsibly with one's mistakes, and to the extent possible prevent them. Dealing Responsibly…
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Conflicts of Interest March 30, 2011

Nepotism and Oversight Relationships

It's hard for ethics codes to deal with every kind of relationship where nepotism might be a problem. In a matter involving the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), the relationship involves oversight. According to an article in Sunday's Palm Beach Post, the SFWMD executive director's b…
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February 19, 2008

Google backs off when big money sidles by...

Recently, Google has taken what appears to be a distinctly less transparent and open approach to their news distribution search engine. Matthew Lee maintains a small blog/website called https://www.innercitypress.com/ and has a reputation for hounding the UN - specifically the UNDP about what he co…
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