City Related | City Ethics

Local Government Practice April 3, 2012

Participatory Budgeting as Solution to Council District Discretionary Fund Problems

One of the most damaging aspects of ethical misconduct in government is that it decreases the amount of citizen participation in government activities. People feel that their local government is rigged to help politicians and their families, friends, and business associates. It's not worth spending time getting involved in a rigged system, unless your goal is to be part of the in crowd.

Conflicts of Interest March 17, 2012

Gifts with No Financial Value

It's amazing the lengths people will go to when they are accused of bribery. Take Zehy Jereis, a former Yonkers, NY party chair who gave nearly $175,000 to a Yonkers council member, and is being accused of doing this in order to get her to make a pivotal vote in favor of his client's controversial mall, according to an article in yesterday's New York Times.

Ethics Commissions & Administration March 15, 2012

Mayoral and Council Interference with EC Member and Staff Selection

The independence of ethics commissions and their staff is the single most important aspect of a government ethics program.
Who selects the commission members and their staff, and how, colors everything about an ethics program and determines, more than any other factor, whether the public has confidence in the commission's advice and enforcement of an ethics code. So the news from Washington, DC and Atlanta is not good.

February 16, 2012

The Problems with a New Report on Chicago's Level of Corruption

What is corruption? I try not to use this word with respect to government ethics, because it is commonly thought of as having to do with criminal misconduct such as bribery, kickbacks, fraud, and embezzlement. There is, however, the term "institutional corruption," which deals with legal misconduct that undermines public trust. And right there in the middle is government ethics, which involves illegal but not criminal misconduct. All very confusing.

January 28, 2012

An Attempt to Get Rid of New Ethics Provisions in Three Broward County Cities

In November 2010, Broward County, FL voters approved an ethics code for officials of the cities in the county (the code also applies to the county commissioners). The code finally became effective January 2, 2012.

Ethics Codes & Reform January 25, 2012

The Institutional Corruption Behind Police Abuse of Immigrants

It's not every day that a neighboring town makes the front page of the New York Times. It's especially surprising when the reason is, at heart, a local government ethics problem.

Local Government Practice January 10, 2012

Misuse of Official Commendations

Local governments often give special recognition to individuals and organizations. It's part of promoting the good works that are being done in the community. But it is also, of course, a form of preferential treatment. For every individual and organization that is recognized for good works, there are many others that are not recognized.

Conflicts of Interest January 3, 2012

How to Plow Through the Appearance of Favoritism

One of the most damaging kinds of preferential treatment is one that is hard to pin on any one individual: public works work done for some, but not for others, or done for some before being done for others. Whether or not this is done in any particular city or county, people talk about it, speculating that it is done, talking about things they've seen and heard.

December 24, 2011

Applause (and Some Criticism) for the New D.C. Ethics Bill

An ethics bill in the District of Columbia, sponsored by council member Muriel Bowser, went quickly through committee and was passed by the council, with only one dissenting vote, on December 20 (the final committee bill can be found here). What's amazing about it is that, despite the speed with which it moved, Bowser's staff made many improvements to the bill in response to critiques from me and others.

December 9, 2011

Chicago Goes the Task Force Route

The creation of an ethics task force is a popular way for local government leaders to pursue ethics reform. It provides the appearance of community involvement and independence, and it means that reform ideas are not something to be imposed by a mayor on council members and other officials, which can cause a great deal of resentment.

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