Blogs

It's rare to see the clear results of unethical behavior in local government. Sadly, exceptionally clear results can be seen in a front-page article in today's New York Times.

Jefferson County, Alabama, the home of Birmingham, had a serious scandal involving sewer repairs and bonds, which I wrote about last year (...

A chapter in Jonah Lehrer's new book, How We Decide, sheds some interesting light on ethical decision-making. The book shares the latest discoveries neuroscientists have made using hightech views of the brain at work, especially when it is making various sorts of decisions.

Thanks to Texas Watchdog, "an independent, nonpartisan entity [that] serves as a government watchdog and training center where reporters, bloggers and activists of any stripe learn how to uncover waste, fraud and corruption in state and local governments," the financial disclosure forms of Houston's council members are now available online.

In Jacksonville-- where City Ethics' founder, Carla Miller, is the Ethics Officer -- the ethics commission is taking the lead in ethics reform, according to an article in the Jacksonville Daily Record.

It may be midsummer, but it's still a busy season for local government ethics. Here's how a few local governments are dealing with ethics reform.

Palm Beach County commissioners agreed to create an inspector general and ethics commission, according to an article in the Palm Beach Post. The commission says it will ask voters in November 2010...

Update below
The only thing worse than stacking ethics commissions with politically active, and apparently loyal, members is refusing to renew the term of a member who has been a vocal advocate of government ethics, in other words, a thorn in the side of officials who do not follow the local government's ethics codes. Clever officials know that one or two members of any board can have a strong effect on what the board does.

I...