Advisory Opinions | City Ethics

Conflicts of Interest November 14, 2012

Government Ethics Professionals Also Respond Personally to Conflict Allegations

News from British Columbia provides strong evidence of how difficult it is for anyone to deal with his own conflict situation, even a government ethics professional. No one should think that it is easy for someone to see an appearance of impropriety relating to himself or to respond to a conflict a…

Ethics Codes & Reform November 6, 2012

Vague, Character-Based Ethics Rules Give More Power Than Guidance

A presidential election day is a good time to consider how vague, character-based ethics rules can be misused. According to an article in the October 27 Economist, the Iranian constitution, for example, requires a presidential candidate to have the attributes of "trustworthiness and piety." Iraq's …

Ethics Codes & Reform November 5, 2012

The Collateral Damage of No Ethics Program

Independent agencies, especially those with lots of money to spend and contracts to enter into, require not just ethics policies, but a comprehensive, independent ethics program. This rarely acknowledged fact has been made clear once again by an external audit of an agency that proved completely un…

Ethics Commissions & Administration September 5, 2012

A Miscellany

Yet Another Mayoral Charity Mess, This Time in Toronto According to an article in the Toronto Star this week and another in the Globe and Mail yesterday, today Toronto's mayor will appear in court "to explain why he participated in a council debate about whether he should return $3,150 in improperl…

Ethics Commissions & Administration August 21, 2012

Law vs. Function, and Oversight

An interesting issue has arisen in Louisiana. It involves an important distinction in government ethics, between law and function. According to an AP article this weekend, the Louisiana Board of Ethics found that a state board of education member may keep both this position and her job as executive…

Conflicts of Interest August 13, 2012

Mayors and Post-Employment Restrictions

When it comes to post-employment restrictions, a mayor should not be considered as just a member of the legislative or executive branch, no matter what the form of government (strong mayor or mayor-council). A mayor has a special status that sets her apart from other local officials. Post-employmen…

August 9, 2012

A Miscellany

Ethics Code Amendment Without a Scandal Sometimes conflict situations, when they are handled responsibly, lead to changes in an ethics code. This happened recently in Prince William County, Virginia, according to an article on the insidenova.com website. A county supervisor wanted to give $100,000 …

Transparency & Disclosure June 19, 2012

The Public Nature of Government Ethics Advice

There is a section of my new book Local Government Ethics Programs (click and scroll down to subsection 9) on the need for more transparency in the provision of ethics advice. What I just realized is that this is another government ethics topic on which Stephen Colbert, who has enlightened the U.S.…

Ethics Commissions & Administration June 14, 2012

Legislative Bodies Should Not Be Providing Ethics Waivers

Erosion of an ethics program can occur in many ways (see the section of my book on backsliding). In Louisiana (where the state ethics program has jurisdiction over local officials), there has been a great deal of erosion, regarding the ethics board's role in the ethics process, the standard of proo…

Conflicts of Interest June 13, 2012

Participation in a Matter, and Seeking Ethics Advice

One of the things that always fascinates me is that, while politicians have no problem asking experts legal, financial, engineering, or human resource questions, they feel they know what they need to know about government ethics questions. Take D.C. council member Vincent Orange. According to an ar…

Subscribe to Advisory Opinions