Safra Working Papers | City Ethics

Local Government Practice October 24, 2010

Mayors Sitting on City Boards

According to an article in the Vancouver Sun, the mayor of Vancouver, BC is concerned about the conflict between his chairing the city's police board and his role in approving the police budget. He said, "It's difficult for me to advocate directly to the mayor on behalf of the police board because I am the mayor."

Local Government Practice November 29, 2006

Meeting Attendance

Many officials face a conflict every evening they have a meeting scheduled: between their obligation to attend a meeting of a board they sit on and their desire to do one of a number of different things. Many officials choose something else often enough that it has an effect on the board's effectiveness. Please share your thoughts about this provision, and your experiences with problems involving meeting attendance and various attempts to deal with these problems.

100(20).

April 18, 2007

Memphis: At the Top of the Bottom

Memphis has been the scene of some serious corruption in the last few years. And for years before that, as well, although they say that in the old days the corruption was institutionalized, so that there were rules about how you could and could not take advantage of your office. In round numbers, in the last six years, 66 officials, employees, and contractors have been found guilty of various sorts of government-related crimes. In a city of only 650,000 people, that puts Memphis in the per-capita lead. With scandals like this, can effective ethics laws be far behind?

Local Government Practice January 28, 2013

Miami Beach Procurement Misconduct: Access, Discretion, Bid Alternatives, and Debarment

The arrest of Miami Beach's former procurement director last October may not be news, but there's a lot to be learned from this case. The issues include personal discretion, alternatives to fully competitive bidding, access to information, and debarment rules.

Conflicts of Interest December 22, 2008

Miami-Dade County's Cone of Silence, Prohibiting Oral Ex Parte Communications re Contracts

While on the topic of ex parte communications, it's a good time to mention a very special ex parte communications provision, Miami-Dade County's renowned "code of silence" provision. It's also a good time because, according to an article in the Miami Herald, the provision was reconsidered earlier this month by the Budget and Finance Committee of the county commission.

Local Government Practice May 2, 2005

Miami/Dade Best Practices

Community Outreach: Public schools

Model Student Ethics Commission Program (MSECP)

The program is designed to teach and to engage students in the policies and issues concerning ethics, good governance and accountability in the administration of government. Students will review case studies regarding ethical dilemmas, identify solutions to various ethical issues within the local to international arenas and participate in mock public hearings to discuss/debate public policy issues.

May 14, 2006

MIAMI/DADE COUNTY

Population: 2.2 million
Web site: www.co.miami-dade.fl.us/ethics

October 24, 2008

Michigan County Clerks Do the Right Thing and Open Themselves to Suit

It's not quite civil disobedience by county officials, but Michigan's senate majority leader has asked the Attorney General to block what those officials are doing, according to an article yesterday on mlive.com (Booth Newspapers).

September 2, 2009

Michigan Disclosure Proposal Doesn't Go Very Far, Locally Speaking

According to an article in the Detroit Free Press, Michigan's Attorney General is seeking stronger financial and gift disclosure requirements for state officials, and he wants these requirements to apply to local officials, as well. But there's a catch: they would only apply to local elected officials who are paid at least $65,000. That would include the Detroit City Council, Wayne County Commission, and strong mayors.

Conflicts of Interest June 19, 2009

Michigan Women's Rights Statute and an Official's Personal Interests

Rarely does someone make a comment to one of my blog posts that brings such a fresh look at a standard conflict of interest issue as the one made recently by Catherine Mullhaupt, Esq., Director of Member Information Services at the Michigan Townships Association.

February 9, 2009

Michigan's Baby Step Toward Local Government Ethics

The Michigan House passed a bill in November requiring all local governments in Michigan to set up ethics boards. The bill, which amends the state ethics law, requires that ethics boards either use the state law, which is minimal, or that local governments pass their own ethics laws, with no restrictions.

March 9, 2009

MILLER'S CROSSING

BY SUSAN COOPER EASTMAN
February 3, 2009
This cover story is reproduced with permission from Folioweekly magazine
See: www.folioweekly.com

CARLA MILLER was appointed to reform Jacksonville’s ethics. The fact that she’s being squeezed out suggests she may be doing her job too well.

July 10, 2011

Mis-summarizing and Other Ethics Problems in Chula Vista, CA

The power of the pen is great, and one place that it is especially powerful in the field of government ethics is in summaries and directions. Those who write summaries of ethics laws and directions for filing complaints or other forms can have an enormous effect on government ethics, either intentionally or negligently, by mischaracterizing ethics laws and procedures.

Ethics Codes & Reform November 27, 2006

Miscellaneous Provisions

This is the place to comment on the Model Code's miscellaneous provisions, and to suggest different language as well as additional provisions.

218. Miscellaneous Provisions.

1. No existing right or remedy may be lost, impaired, or affected by reason of this code. 2.

March 1, 2011

Miscellany of a Hundred Eyes

Let's Not Drink to It
Yes, it has happened. Local government ethics has been compared to Prohibition.

According to an article in the La Porte (IN) Herald Argus last Friday, this comparison was made by a superior court judge in town, who said that Prohibition "was intended to increase the productivity of workers ... but all it really did was create more problems.”

May 13, 2010

Misinformation and the Lack of Ethics Training in Mississippi

Misinformation is rampant in local government ethics. And the less people understand it, the easier it is for the misinformation to be taken at face value.

According to an article in yesterday's Dispatch, in Columbus, a city of 24,000 in eastern Mississippi, one council member's response to a fist fight between the mayor and another council member was to propose an ethics code so that officials would treat each other and the public with respect.

October 15, 2014

Misleading Orange County (CA) Ethics Initiative

According to an editorial in the Orange County (CA) Register this week, Orange County citizens will soon vote on an initiative that would make their county the second one to turn its campaign finance program over to the state's Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).

Transparency & Disclosure April 24, 2012

Misrepresentations Regarding Disclosure

This week, a citizen in the village of Niles, IL (pop. 30,000) made a proposal for applicant disclosure, something every ethics program should have, but most do not. According to an article in yesterday's Niles Herald-Spectator, the proposal "would ask if the applicant’s officers, directors or partners are related by blood or marriage or reside in the same residence as any Niles elected official, appointed official [or] village employee.

June 4, 2009

Misrepresenting Ethics Law in a Highly Visible Case

It seriously undermines the public's understanding of government ethics when highly visible decisions misrepresent basic government ethics concepts.

Conflicts of Interest October 16, 2012

Misuse of a Local Office on a Regional Board

One conflict that is difficult to deal with in an ethics code, but which comes up again and again, is the conflict situation that arises when a local government official sits on a regional board or holds another office that has a different constituency than the one he was elected or appointed to represent.