Safra Working Papers | City Ethics

Ethics Commissions & Administration October 25, 2010

Non-Ethics Commission Ethics Oversight

All ethics oversight cannot be done by an ethics commission. Much oversight needs to be done outside of the complaint process. Even when complaints are made, a lack of proper oversight can leave a big hole in the facts available to an EC. I came across such a situation in yesterday's Bristol (VA) News.

Enforcement & Complaints February 25, 2014

Non-Substantive Considerations for Dismissing Ethics Complaints

Why is it so hard for officials, personally or in drafting ethics codes, to let an ethics commission do its work, dismissing complaints that lack validity (i.e., that do not state an ethics violation by someone under the ethics program's jurisdiction or for which there is insufficient evidence)? Why, instead, do they create and take advantage of non-substantive considerations for dismissal of complaints in order to take revenge on complainants?

Conflicts of Interest April 23, 2009

Nonprofits and the Revolving Door

According to an article in Tuesday's New York Times, nonprofits are seeking an exception to the Obama administration's rule that lobbyists cannot serve in areas where they have lobbied. This raises the issue of the purpose of revolving-door provisions, which are common in local government ethics codes.

Local Government Practice March 14, 2011

Nonviolence and Government Ethics I – Disrespect

Faida Hamdy was a municipal inspector in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia. She was not a very respectful municipal official. So when she found that a young fruit vendor did not have a license, she slapped him. She humiliated him in front of others. The fruit vendor set himself on fire, and this set the Arab world on fire, because the same sort of disrespect from government officials was felt throughout the Arab world. Disrespect is a very powerful thing. And so is respect.

Local Government Practice March 15, 2011

Nonviolence and Government Ethics II – Teamwork and Leading By Example

Nonviolence, as Michael N. Nagler presents it in his book The Search for a Nonviolent Future, is not just a way of standing up to dictators, as in Egypt, or trying to change discriminatory laws, as in the civil rights movement. Nonviolence also includes what Gandhi referred to a Constructive Program, positive acts that can be done every day.

Resources & Learning March 16, 2011

Nonviolence and Government Ethics III – Thinking Outside the Box

Another way in which violence and unethical conduct are similar is the way they are handled by the news media. Just as violence is generally discussed in terms of separate battles and wars, day by day, unethical conduct is discussed in terms of separate scandals and individuals, day by day. And unethical conduct is responded to in the worst possible atmosphere.

Ethics Codes & Reform March 17, 2011

Nonviolence and Government Ethics IV – Moral Courage

In his book The Search for a Nonviolent Future, Michael N. Nagler wrote, "Anyone who plucks up the courage to offer an opponent a way out of their conflict can find herself or himself wielding an unexpected power." You may need to read this sentence over a few times before it completely sinks in.

The Courage of Ethics Commissions

Resources & Learning March 18, 2011

Nonviolence and Government Ethics V – Modeling Corruption

In his book The Search for a Nonviolent Future, Michael N. Nagler talks about two models for looking at violence that are also relevant to government ethics, the medical model and the educational model.

The Medical Model

Resources & Learning March 19, 2011

Nonviolence and Government Ethics VI – Integrative Power

Violence happens. The world is violent. People are naturally violent. This is what people say.

Politicians are all crooks. Government ethics is an oxymoron. Don't be so naïve. This is what people say.

Ethics Codes & Reform March 20, 2011

Nonviolence and Government Ethics VII – Seeking Order

Seeking Order in Government
All government officials seek order, not just in the sense of law and order, but also in the sense of having everyone know their roles, their authority, and their relationships to other individuals and agencies.

Nonviolent actors seek order in societies where some kinds of disorder are taken for granted, for example, in dictatorships that have usurped authority and destroyed relationships.

March 13, 2007

North Carolina Enters the Dark Ages

North Carolina's 2006 state ethics reform turned out the lights, according to an article in yesterday's Charlotte Observer. The new system provides that there will be no public hearings before the new state ethics commission unless the accused asks for one.

July 17, 2009

North Carolina Legislature Is About to Pass a Nearly Worthless, and Possibly Dangerous, Local Government Ethics Law

In a blog post yesterday, I noted that North Carolina was soon to require local governments to pass ethics codes. I've now found out more about the proposed law, and it is disappointing, to say the least.

Conflicts of Interest July 15, 2010

Not Dealing Responsibly with Conflicts Can Lead to Litigation and Overturning of Board Action

A failure to deal responsibly with one's conflicts of interest has ramifications beyond the loss of public trust, and all the serious problems that arise from this loss. This failure can also lead to litigation and the overturning of actions by local government officials.

May 20, 2013

Not Engaging in Our Fathers' Misconduct

In this week's New York Times Sunday Review section, Stephanie Coontz wrote about "social nostalgia," that is, nostalgia about the way society used to be. She cites a study of men with difficult childhoods, done by the psychologist John Snarey, which I assume is discussed in Snarey's 1993 book, How Fathers Care for the Next Generation (Harvard Univ. Press).

March 9, 2010

Not Much to Get Excited About in Baltimore's Ethics Reforms

Update: The bills discussed below passed the council on March 22.

Just down the road from Philadelphia, Baltimore too is considering ethics reforms, but it's in response to a scandal involving its past mayor rather than in response to the work of a task force.

January 8, 2009

Not One Little Job, But the Whole Works

“There’s no conflict,” the mayor said last night. “It wouldn’t be a story if his name wasn’t Menino.” (from a recent Boston Herald article)

This is Boston's mayor, Thomas M. Menino, speaking about his son's year-old job for a construction company that has done a great deal of business with the city, which regularly gets permits from the city, and which has given a lot of money to the mayor's campaigns and inaugural committees.

February 14, 2011

Not Withdrawing As a Responsible Way to Deal with a Conflict in Stamford, CT

There are times when withdrawing from a vote is in fact not a responsible act, but rather an act in one's own self-interest. In such a case, a responsible official should participate and do what is in the public interest.

Local Government Practice February 5, 2010

Novel Approaches to Local Government Corruption in India and China

India and China have not only been the home of new varieties of entrepreneurialism. In these countries, creative individuals have also come up with novel approaches to dealing with local government corruption.

An expatriate Indian physics professor in the U.S. came up with the brilliant idea of a Zero-Rupee Note to hand out in situations where local officials expect or ask for bribes.

Resources & Learning April 3, 2013

Now Available! An Introduction to Local Government Ethics

More and more each year, the City Ethics website has been the go-to place for local government ethics information. First a blog, then a Model Ethics Code, and then a huge resource book. Thousands of pages of useful information. What more could anyone ask for?

How about clearing away some of the debris? In other words, a short introduction to local government ethics. An explanation of what it is and what it isn't. A summary of the basic concepts. A description of the key elements of a local government ethics program.

Local Government Practice December 9, 2013

Nudging and Government Ethics

I've been writing a lot about government ethics and behavioral psychology over the last few years. I consider some of the findings of behavioral psychology, especially about blind spots, essential to understanding what leads to ethical misconduct and, therefore, essential to ethics training, ethics advice, and ethics enforcement. But behavioral psychology has not yet been embraced by American government ethics programs, at least as far as I have seen.