Conflicts

You know you're doing a pretty poor job with government ethics when a grand jury recommends that you be all but abolished. This is the case with the Broward County School Board, according to a report published on Frday. It concludes, on p. 48:

Unfortunately based on the history of this Board as an institution, we have no confIdence in their ability to...

It's nice to be able to write about a difficult conflict situation that is handled responsibly. It's unusual to be able to write about a resolution where the local newspaper ends its editorial saying that the right thing has been done.

According to...

More Costs of Not Having an Ethics Program
Local officials are always complaining about the cost of an ethics program, but not having an ethics program can be expensive and extremely disruptive, and seem downright unfair.

There are times when withdrawing from a vote is in fact not a responsible act, but rather an act in one's own self-interest. In such a case, a responsible official should participate and do what is in the public interest.

According to an article in Friday's San Bernardino Sun, a San Bernardino city council member accused of a conflict of interest resigned. He owned a towing company whose major source of income is a contract with the city. The contract was made before he joined the council. According to an article Saturday in the...

Update: February 10, 2011 (see below)

Trenton's city attorney and mayor have been going through an elaborate dance in the last week, since the city attorney decided to void a contract between the city and a law firm that made a large contribution to a PAC that supported the new mayor's candidacy. The city attorney's decision was made pursuant to a 2006 Trenton pay-to-...