Safra Working Papers | City Ethics

Conflicts of Interest October 13, 2010

Over-reaction to an Alleged Conflict

Over-reaction to an alleged ethics violation can be as bad as under-reaction.

Conflicts of Interest July 21, 2009

Overreacting to a Conflict

While so many local governments don't take conflicts seriously enough to require recusal, some take conflicts too seriously, and overreact. This appears to be what happened in Elizabethtown (NY), according to an article in yesterday's Press-Republican.

October 23, 2010

Palm Beach Council Sneakily Opposes County Ethics Reform

According to an article in the Palm Beach Daily News, Florida law "forbids government bodies from advocating for voters to vote yes or no in a referendum election, and from spending funds to advertise for that purpose." But as with all laws, there are ways to end-run this prohibition, and the town of Palm Beach's council and city attorney found a way.

September 22, 2009

Palm Beach County Business Coalition Gets Government Ethics

The business coalition in Palm Beach County (FL) really gets it. One reason is that City Ethics' Carla Miller has provided advice. The coalition consists of Leadership Palm Beach County, the Palm Beach County Business Forum, the Palm Beach County Economic Council, and the Voters Coalition. Its positions are best stated in a short essay available at the League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County site.

December 16, 2009

Palm Beach County Ethics Program Has Passed

After many months of deliberation (and a blog post), yesterday the Palm Beach Board of County Commissioners passed three ordinances, establishing a new ethics and lobbying code, ethics commission, and inspector general.

July 7, 2010

Palm Beach County Update

Enforcement & Complaints April 28, 2009

Paper Tigers

Local government officials often defend halfway ethics reforms by saying that they're just the beginning, and that something is better than nothing. But halfway reforms are often effectively little more than nothing, especially in the area of enforcement. "Window dressing" is one term for such reforms. "Paper tiger" is another.

Conflicts of Interest August 5, 2010

Parents' Fear of Retaliation

Yesterday, I wrote a blog post about intimidation, but I forgot to mention what might be the greatest fear among citizens relating to their local government: the fear that if they speak out against local officials, especially school officials, it will affect their school-age children.

July 15, 2013

Partial Withdrawal Taints a Proceeding in NJ, But Only If It's an Attorney

When it comes to conflicts of interest, is a local government attorney primarily an attorney or a local government official? I would answer this question, "Definitely an official." But recently the New Jersey Supreme Court answered this question, "Definitely an attorney." In fact, had the attorney been an administrator, the opinion suggests, the court's decision would have been different.

Conflicts of Interest August 21, 2008

Participating with a Conflict

A conflict controversy in Benson, Arizona shows how important participation can be where there is a conflict, even when an official does not vote. According to an article in the San Pedro Valley News-Sun, the mayor was in escrow to purchase property for which he was seeking to (and successfully did) reduce the time (from six to two months) for rezoning from residential to business. After doing this, he did not vote on the matter.

Conflicts of Interest June 13, 2012

Participation in a Matter, and Seeking Ethics Advice

One of the things that always fascinates me is that, while politicians have no problem asking experts legal, financial, engineering, or human resource questions, they feel they know what they need to know about government ethics questions.

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.

Ethics Commissions & Administration March 29, 2008

Parties and the Selection of Ethics Board Members

One nearly untouchable aspect of government ethics is the role of parties. This is less a problem in municipalities than at other levels of government, because most municipalities in the U.S. are nonpartisan, although parties still play a role. But many municipalities and, in some states, particularly in the Northeast, all municipalities are still partisan. And most counties are partisan, as well. In many cases, partisanship and local government are hard to separate.

December 11, 2010

Partisan Misuse of Office to Pass "Ethics Reforms" in Alabama

Quick. What's the biggest government ethics problem?

Did you say deducting union membership dues from government paychecks? If you didn't, you are clearly not an Republican Alabama state senator.

When you think of double-dipping, do you think of a mayor also acting as a state representative, or someone holding a government job while getting a government pension? If you do, you are clearly not an Republican Alabama official. They appear more concerned about teachers holding elected office, a problem that keeps us up late at night.

Ethics Commissions & Administration May 12, 2010

Partisan Nomination of Ethics Commission Members

I was reminded today that Sen. Arlen Specter, who recently switched from the Republican party to the Democratic party, voted against Elena Kagan's appointment as solicitor-general. He now appears likely to support her appointment to the Supreme Court. This raised the issue in my mind: is it ever right for an elected official to vote on an appointment on purely partisan grounds?

Local Government Practice May 14, 2010

Partisanship of Local Elections and Government Ethics

Is the partisanship of local government elections a government ethics issue? I think it is, partly.

The story that sparked my thoughts about this was one from today's New York Times about Mayor Bloomberg's second attempt to turn New York City elections from partisan to nonpartisan.

Ethics Codes & Reform January 22, 2007

Passing or Improving Ethics Codes: Problems and Solutions

This is the place to share your experiences with and thoughts about problems faced in passing or improving municipal ethics codes, and possible solutions to these problems.

Resources & Learning May 4, 2009

Patricia Salkin's Local Government Ethics Blogs

For a year and a half, in her Law of the Land blog, Patricia Salkin has been writing about local government ethics issues in land use cases. And since December 2008, she has been writing occasional local government ethics posts for the International Municipal Lawyers Association Local Government Blog.

April 25, 2009

Patrick Fitzgerald on Solutions to Corruption

See Update Below
At a University of Washington panel on Thursday, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, known most recently for his investigation and arrest of Gov. Blagojevich, spoke about corruption in government and what can be done about it.

Conflicts of Interest November 29, 2006

Patronage

Patronage involves a conflict between one's obligation to the public to hire the most competent person for each job, and one's political obligation to reward those who help oneself or one's colleagues get elected. Most ethics codes ignore this conflict. Please share your thoughts on its inclusion, as well as your experiences with patronage and attempts to control it.