(Update: March 1, 2010: Also see this excellent Times-Union editorial on the importance of an independent ethics commission that has authority over independent authorities. A particularly valuable observation: "The city Ethics Commission needs the ability to obtain independent legal advice. The city General Counsel's Office advises the mayor, City Council and the Ethics...
A NC Local
Government Blog post yesterday made me aware that there have
recently been some very public conflict of interest issues involving
North Carolina's alcoholic beverage control (ABC) system, the state
liquor sales program, which allows
each city and county to have a local alcoholic beverage control board
and employees (163 boards in all).
It's not an unfamiliar story. Council candidates promise ethics
reform. They are elected, and actually fulfill their promises with
a proposed ethics ordinance. But there's not really much to the
proposed ethics ordinance, and there's no enforcement mechanism.
This is what is happening in Yorba
Linda (pop. 71,000), just outside Anaheim. The...
Many complex conflicts of interest involve the spouses and other close family
members of local government officials, as can be seen in Broward County
(FL, home of Ft. Lauderdale) according to an
article in the Sun-Sentinel.
There are a lot of stupid reasons for opposing ethics reform
initiatives, but an organization in Utah has pulled a Plaxico Burress
with the stupidest of all.