Safra Working Papers | City Ethics

Local Government Practice March 29, 2009

Representation Without Taxation - A Local Government Example

Update: February 5, 2010 (see below)

Alaska and a small utility district in Texas. Who would have thought they could have anything in common. But they do: representation without taxation.

Conflicts of Interest February 5, 2009

Resignation Due to a Conflict of Interest

When is a conflict sufficient to require an official to resign (or not take a position in the first place)? This question involves a lot of gray area, and little black and white. What sorts of interest are enough to undermine public trust, and what sorts of interest provide opportunities for officials to benefit unfairly from their positions? Here are three recent situations where an official's external job was seen or not seen as creating a conflict serious enough to require resignation.

Resources & Learning January 21, 2010

Resources

This page will contain an overview of the resources available on the City Ethics site. This is a work in progress, but check out the sub-menus under the "Resources" Menu button.

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play January 19, 2011

Responding to Arguments Against Significant Restrictions on Pay-to-Play

This week, the Pay to Play Law Blog took a snapshot of the status of pay-to-play laws across the country, breaking them down into four categories: jurisdictions that impose significant restrictions, including debarment; jurisdictions that require disclosure; jurisdictions with limited requirements; and jurisdictions that are considering pay-to-play laws.

Local Government Practice June 15, 2010

Responsibility for a Subordinate's Misconduct

What responsibility does a supervisor have for the unethical conduct of a subordinate?

Local Government Practice January 10, 2007

Responsibility for Social Responsibility?

A survey commissioned by Tiller, a consulting company that specializes in what it calls "cause commerce," found a gaping leadership void when it comes to social responsibility. People want to do more good, get more involved in their communities, but they don't know how, the survey concludes. And according to Tiller, business is uniquely positioned to fill the leadership void. Or is it? Isn't that what government is for?

Enforcement & Complaints January 10, 2013

Restorative Justice in Government Ethics

Government ethics proceedings are usually not very satisfying for those involved. Individuals rarely get to tell the entire story from their point of view. Nor do they profit from hearing how others saw the situation or experienced the events. The format for ethics proceedings is similar to the criminal justice system, with charges, a prosecution, witnesses, documents, and the ethics commission as jury. Or a settlement is reached, the equivalent of a plea bargain, and no story is told at all.

Ethics Commissions & Administration July 14, 2009

Restrictions on Ethics Commission Membership

In yesterday's miscellany, I talked about an ethics commission member conflicted due to having played a role in the campaign of an official brought before the commission. There are two ways to deal with such a conflict. One is to deal with it like any conflict, when it arises. The other is to prevent the conflict from occurring.

Normally, the right way to handle conflicts is the first way, when they arise. Conflicts are common, and dealing with them responsibly is central to government ethics.

Conflicts of Interest November 29, 2006

Revolving Door

The revolving door involves movement from city government into business, specifically into businesses that do business with the city or represent people before its boards and agencies.

February 18, 2010

Revolving Door or Merry-Go-Round?

Your big brother is a powerful member of city council, and you're just a deputy city clerk. There's got to be more than this! So you retire, take your pension of $68,000, and run for state representative, with all the support your brother and his friends can provide, adding another $86,000 in salary and the prospect of a second government pension. Not bad.

Ethics Codes & Reform December 15, 2009

Revolving Door Provisions and Free Speech Rights

In August, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio granted a former state representative a temporary restraining order with respect to a state revolving door provision that prohibits state representatives from representing anyone other than a state political subdivision before the state legislature for one year after leaving office.

Ethics Codes & Reform March 23, 2010

Revolving Door Provisions in Local Government Ethics Codes

I've been meaning for a long time to take a long second look at the City Ethics Model Code provision on the revolving door that many officials walk through between government and firms that do business with government. It's a complex matter, and local governments as well as states with jurisdiction over local government ethics deal with it in a variety of ways.

Enforcement & Complaints March 23, 2012

Reward and Investigation Tips from Ireland

A few days too late for St. Patrick's Day, today's Irish Examiner has a wonderful story about catching officials involved in ethical misconduct relating to land use. It's an old story, but new to me, and probably new to you, as well.

March 22, 2010

Rhode Island Bill to Give Ethics Commission Back Its Jurisdiction Over Legislators

Update: June 7, 2010 (see below)

December 15, 2008

Rhode Island Legislative Immunity Brief

I just obtained the Rhode Island Ethics Commission's memorandum in support of its jurisdiction over legislators, which was contested by the former state senate president William V. Irons, as discussed in an earlier blog entry. The argument of the EC's brief is not typical, because the ethics commission and code were created pursuant to a 1986 constitutional amendment.

Ethics Commissions & Administration May 14, 2009

Rhode Island Oral Arguments: On Inherent Conflicts in the Ethics Process

Yesterday, the Rhode Island Supreme Court held oral arguments on the appeal of the RI legislative immunity decision.

Ethics Commissions & Administration June 9, 2014

RI Legislature Schemes to Ensure Its Continuing Immunity to Ethics Jurisdiction

Rhode Island's lawmakers really know how to protect themselves. They have fought hard and long to effectively preserve their immunity from state ethics commission jurisdiction. However, with pressure on them to recommend to their constituents a constitutional amendment that would give the EC jurisdiction over them, despite the state's Speech in (sic) Debate Clause, they have planted a bomb in their proposed amendment that will ensure that even the state's good government organizations would oppose it (and that few ordinary citizens would understand what all the fuss was about).

June 30, 2009

RI Supreme Court Prefers Speech in Debate Clause to Constitutional Authority of Ethics Commission Over Legislators

The Rhode Island Supreme Court has reached a decision on the legislative immunity case (Irons v. RI Ethics Commission) involving the state ethics commission and the state legislature. As expected, its majority opinion (it was a 3-1 split) concluded that the state's Speech in Debate Clause 100% overrides the 1986 constitutional amendment that granted the state ethics commission full authority over state legislators.

Conflicts of Interest June 16, 2014

Risk and Government Ethics

Thinking in terms of risk is a great way not to take responsibility for your actions, including your inactions. As soon as you start thinking about the chances that, overall, you might win or lose from a transaction, you have begun thinking in terms of your personal interest. This makes it very difficult to think in terms of the public interest.

Resources & Learning April 30, 2015

Robert Prentice on the future of ethics training—trends

Robert Prentice, McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin

(Robert has developed an excellent website for teaching ethics: 3 series and 44 videos, including teaching notes. One of the best ethics educational resources in the country.)