Ethics Reform

Pennsylvanians have, for some time, been entertained with a scandal called Bonusgate, which involves state legislative staff not only being used for campaigns, but getting bonuses, which makes a common practice appear even uglier. The ugliness has recently increased in intensity:  defense counsel for two of the legislators is accusing the attorney general (who instituted the criminal actions) of doing the very same thing, without the bonuses. And the attorney general, of a different political...

City Ethics' president and Jacksonville ethics officer, Carla Miller, is taking best practices to a new level in Florida. She is organizing a statewide local government ethics swap meeting, where local government ethics officials will share information and talk about swapping software and programs.

The tendency of local government ethics codes to limit conflicts to financial interests is one of my pet peeves. A current matter in Tacoma shows the downside of this limited definition of interests that can conflict.

Yesterday, my attention was drawn to a new organization called Foundation for Ethics in Public Service, Inc., which operates as the website www.reportpubliccorruption.org. On February 11, its executive director, Leslie W. Merritt, Jr., a former North Carolina state auditor, sent out a statement to...

Here are two interesting situations where it is not clear what an ethics commission's role and authority are. One in Baltimore, the other in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia, Baltimore, and now Louisville have come up with ethics reforms in the past week or so. Baltimore's reforms were disappointing, while Philadelphia's were a big surprise to everyone, and came with a few serious question marks. Louisville's reforms...