Safra Working Papers | City Ethics

November 10, 2009

Plain Language in NSW, Oz

New South Wales, Australia Premier Nathan Rees announces plain language reforms In an interview recently he said: "I want plain English to become an essential part of how the public sector does its business, every bit as essential as a financial impact statement." His statement at the opening of the PLAIN Conference in Sydney October 16th included three points that he plans to implement:

Issuing a Premier’s Memorandum to the entire NSW public sector directing all agencies to adopt plain English in their communications
From 2010, including a special category for “Best Use o

Local Government Practice August 24, 2009

Playing Games with Local Government Ethics

Explaining a political decision on the basis of government ethics, when that really isn't the reason, can lead to government ethics reform made on the basis of politics. That's what appears to have happened in Boerne (TX), a small "city" of 6,000 residents outside San Antonio.

Conflicts of Interest January 11, 2014

Police Officers' Failure to Report Criminal Activity for Their Own Personal Interest

According to an article in the New York Times this week, dozens of New York City, as well as Nassau and Suffolk County, police officers were arrested for grand larceny relating to a scheme to fraudulently get disability pensions through Social Security. It is somewhat like the Long Island Railroad disability scam I wrote about in a 2008 blog post.

Local Government Practice March 3, 2009

Political Activity on the Job

The ethics provision that is probably most consistently violated is the one about political activity in city or county hall.

The City Ethics Model Code Project version reads as follows:

October 19, 2009

Political Consultants, Lobbyists, Term Limits and Contribution Limits in Missouri

Update: October 21, 2009 (see below)
Two interesting issues come out of a long, detailed Kansas City Star article yesterday about Missouri political consultant, and recent house speaker, Ron Jetton.

Political Consultants and the Definition of "Lobbyist"

October 23, 2009

Political Deal-Making, Election Time Complaints, and Overinclusive Language in Milton, GA

Is political deal-making a government ethics violation? This is a tough area. Government ethics is about the conflict of personal and public interests. Political interests are generally left out of the equation unless non-political benefits are involved. In politics, you are allowed to put your personal interests first, at least until you win.

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play October 26, 2010

Political Money Laundering

What is the worst local campaign finance violation? According to an article yesterday from the Los Angeles Daily News, it appears to be political money laundering. Mark Abrams, a former Beverly Hills developer, was fined $108,000 yesterday, and $270,000 for similar violations back in 2005.

Conflicts of Interest June 8, 2010

Political Preferential Treatment and Quid Pro Quos

A capable individual decides to run for city council against an incumbent who has been on the council since long before the mayor got involved in politics (in other words, the incumbent owes nothing to the mayor and is in no way under the mayor's control). The mayor asks a former mayor to try to convince the candidate to drop out of the race, and allows the former mayor to offer the candidate an unpaid position on a city commission.

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play November 29, 2006

Political Solicitation

This is the place to discuss how to deal with the situation where an official puts pressure, directly or indirectly, on subordinates to participate in political campaigns. This provision also deals with the problem of political activity at work or with city funds or facilities. Municipal officials and employees have the right to participate in political activities, but they also have an obligation to separate this from their municipal responsibilities. Some city administrations have based their power on pressuring subordinates into working for their re-election.

Conflicts of Interest July 15, 2009

Political Solicitation of Local Government Employees

See update below:
An issue that arises in many local governments involves campaign contributions from local government employees, which often appear to be coerced or required, that is, they appear to result from a misuse of office by elected officials. Often, it appears that the giving occurs because employees are concerned about keeping their jobs. This concern includes concern about retaliation as well as concern about what will happen if the candidate loses.

Enforcement & Complaints May 10, 2008

Political Use of Ethics Enforcement

Ethics complaints are often brought for purely political reasons, and election time is the favorite time for bringing them.

According to an article in yesterday's Flint Journal, a Thetford Township Supervisor brought an ethics complaint before his own board against a township Trustee who is planning to run for his seat this year. The complaint raises a reasonable problem involving a property tax exemption, but it is clearly not a violation of the township's ethics code.

Ethics Commissions & Administration April 16, 2009

Politicians on an Ethics Commission, EC Self-Regulation, and Other Interesting Issues That Arise from One Matter in Tulsa

According to an article in the Tulsa World, last week the city's Ethics Advisory Committee (EAC) ruled in favor of one of its members, Michael Slankard, with respect to an advisory opinion request by the city attorney. This situation raises several interesting issues.

Background Information

Ethics Commissions & Administration April 11, 2007

Politicians on Ethics Commissions

Having politicians on the Queensbury, NY Ethics Board has created a mess.

February 8, 2008

Pollsters and Transparency

An op-ed piece by Pollster.com editor Mark Blumenthal, in yesterday’s New York Times, brought up an interesting point about the transparency of political polls. I would like to take his piece a step further. Blumenthal feels that political polls provide too little background information, such as whether live or recorded interviewers were used, or the demographic makeup of their sample.

Local Government Practice October 28, 2014

Poor Contractor Contingency Fee Incentives

The last time I discussed contingency fee arrangements in local government contracting was 2007 (the focus then was on attorneys). A front-page story in today's New York Times shows clearly that I have not been giving this topic the attention it deserves.

Ethics Codes & Reform July 11, 2010

Poor Draftmanship and Poor Ethics

Note: I completely rewrote this post after Mark Davies set me straight about the state law on which disclosure forms an official must file.

Ethics Codes & Reform May 27, 2014

Poor Ethics Code Language

Are those who draft local government ethics codes unusually eccentric? Unusually clever? Or just lazy? Whichever it is, they don't seem to consider best practices, or even the practices of better ethics programs. Across the U.S.A., ethics code drafters seem to pull many of their provisions out of a hat. And as with Rocky the flying squirrel, sometimes they pull out a rabbit, sometimes a rhino, and sometimes Bullwinkle the moose.

December 2, 2014

Poor Handling of a Conflict of Interest in Ferguson, MO

Partial withdrawal from participation is not a sufficient cure for an apparent conflict of interest. When there is any involvement, it can be seen as providing preferential treatment, as being unfair. Once again this is made clear, in the most controversial local government problem of the year: a white police officer's killing of a black man in Ferguson, MO.

Ethics Commissions & Administration February 22, 2013

Post-EC Obligations

Does a former ethics commission member have a special obligation not to make misstatements with respect to government ethics matters? This question arose from a 2010 case in Florida I just came across, where the state senate president hired a former chair of the state ethics commission as his attorney.

Conflicts of Interest September 16, 2013

Post-Employment Government Contracts

The first blog post on the West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) matter looked at it from the point of view of the timing of withdrawal from participation. This post will look at it from the point of view of post-employment issues. A third post will look at this matter in the context of multiple CRA problems in Florida.