Safra Working Papers | City Ethics

October 11, 2013

The Poor State of Local Government Ethics in the Albany Area

An investigative article in Sunday's Albany Times-Union looks at the local government ethics programs in 78 local governments in four New York counties. What it found is sadly typical in most states.

Transparency & Disclosure August 25, 2009

The Positive Effects of Applicant Disclosure, and How to Enforce It

Applicant disclosure is an effective part of local government ethics that is usually ignored. Usually it is officials who are required to disclose potential conflicts of interest, either in the form of annual disclosure statements, revised when circumstances change, or in the form of announcements that they have a potential conflict and are withdrawing from involvement in a matter.

Conflicts of Interest August 3, 2011

The Potential Conflicts of Georgia's Community Improvement Districts

In Georgia, Community Improvement Districts (CIDs) are a creation of state government (they're in the amended 1984 state constitution) that involves local governments in serious potential conflicts of interest, in order to allow developers to fund their public infrastructure with tax-free bonds. CIDs are a clever idea, but cleverness is often inconsistent with government ethics. Smith, Gambrell & Russell, a law firm, has a good, short overview of CIDs.

Local Government Practice June 28, 2010

The Powerlessness of the Powerful

It's amazing how powerless powerful politicians can be. Take New Jersey state senate president Stephen M. Sweeney. According to an article in the Courier-Post, Sweeney is not only senate president, but also director of his county's council (called the board of freeholders), as well as regional director of a union.

Conflicts of Interest July 31, 2010

The Pretzel Logic Required by Limiting Conflicts to Financial Interests. And the Ultimate Defense.

Update: August 2, 2010 (see below)

Ethics Codes & Reform March 16, 2010

The Principal Goal of Government Ethics

I think it's important to remind ourselves about the alternative government and economic system that exists in much of the world (and partially in islands throughout the U.S.) and which government ethics programs are intended to protect us from. That system was described succinctly in an Economist article this week: a system in which "existing institutions are just a device for the redistribution of property."

Conflicts of Interest March 22, 2008

The Privilege of Slicing Into the Body Politic

The following appeared in a recent op-ed column in the Los Angeles Times by a young doctor, SreyRam Kuy. The issue was a health insurer asking doctors to report patient conditions that might be used to cancel health insurance. “Physicians hold a trust to protect the health of our patients. We cannot abdicate this sacred trust. ... That a person would allow me to take a scalpel and slice into his body to extirpate diseases is such an extraordinary act of trust.

Conflicts of Interest November 9, 2009

The Problem with Gifts to City via Elected Officials

In past blog posts, I have focused on the perjury charges against Baltimore mayor Sheila Dixon that relate to her failure to disclose gifts from a developer who was seeking tax breaks. But today, Dixon goes on trial for theft involving gift cards allegedly given to the office of the city council president, which she filled at the time, and used by her for personal purchases.

Conflicts of Interest May 8, 2014

The Problem with Legislative Ethics Waivers

Many government ethics professionals don't like waivers. I think they're valuable. Basically, they are requests for an advisory opinion in which the official recognizes that certain conduct would constitute an ethics violation, but wants a determination that he can engage in the conduct due to special circumstances. The result of such a determination is the creation of a new, narrow exception to a rule. This is a good way of preventing bad unforeseen consequences of a rule. But waivers must be given only after a public hearing.

Conflicts of Interest June 11, 2014

The Problem with Limiting Conflicts to Pecuniary Benefits

Many people believe that conflicts of interest are limited to situations where money is involved. When these people write ethics laws, as they often do, the law effectively says that where money isn't involved, any conduct is acceptable.

Local Government Practice July 16, 2014

The Problems with a Mayoral Booster Organization

Is it appropriate for a mayor — especially a mayor in a city with strict gift rules and a public campaign financing program that has strict campaign contribution limits — to work with an organization that lobbies the state on behalf of his policies and sponsors ads and materials that support his views and, especially, celebrate his successes?

February 16, 2012

The Problems with a New Report on Chicago's Level of Corruption

What is corruption? I try not to use this word with respect to government ethics, because it is commonly thought of as having to do with criminal misconduct such as bribery, kickbacks, fraud, and embezzlement. There is, however, the term "institutional corruption," which deals with legal misconduct that undermines public trust. And right there in the middle is government ethics, which involves illegal but not criminal misconduct. All very confusing.

Ethics Commissions & Administration July 23, 2014

The Problems with an Executive's Ethics Commission

The big news in the government ethics world today is the investigative piece in the New York Times about New York governor Andrew Cuomo's interference in the work of the Moreland Commission he created to investigate corruption in the state government and to recommend reforms to prevent such corruption (see my blo

Local Government Practice November 10, 2012

The Problems with Bipartisan Local Election Administration

It's been a few years since I wrote about the problems with the partisan, or "bipartisan," administration of local elections. One thing that arisen from this year's election is a strong feeling that it is high time that New York City's Board of Elections be reformed. Hopefully, this process will get a great deal of publicity, and become a guide for other communities.

Ethics Commissions & Administration October 16, 2013

The Problems with EC Jurisdiction Over Charter Violations

It is unethical for a local official to violate a law, especially the city or county charter. But such a violation is usually not a government ethics violation, because it has nothing to do with conflicts of interest. It may be a misuse of office, but it is not a misuse of office to benefit oneself, one's family, or one's business associates.

Ethics Commissions & Administration June 5, 2012

The Problems with Nominating a Top Government Lawyer to Sit on an Ethics Commission

What does it mean to be a "high-caliber" nominee for a position on a local ethics commission? Does it mean someone who has been in law enforcement, a prosecutor or judge whose presence sends the message that the law will be enforced? Or does it mean someone who appears to be independent of the local government officials who are under the commission's jurisdiction?

Enforcement & Complaints August 15, 2012

The Problems with Requiring a Sworn Ethics Complaint Based on Personally Known Facts

Is it important that an ethics complaint be based on information that is known personally? Some ethics codes require this. But the fact is that many ethics violations are done secretly. It can take some serious, professional investigation to obtain the facts and relevant documents. This is why investigations by journalists are so valuable. What they uncover is often used by citizens, good government organizations, and others as the basis for an ethics complaint.

Transparency & Disclosure June 19, 2012

The Public Nature of Government Ethics Advice

There is a section of my new book Local Government Ethics Programs (click and scroll down to subsection 9) on the need for more transparency in the provision of ethics advice. What I just realized is that this is another government ethics topic on which Stephen Colbert, who has enlightened the U.S.

March 4, 2013

The Public Sea and Local Government Ethics Jurisdiction

Most of George Frederickson's lecture, "Searching for Virtue in the Public Life: Revisiting the Vulgar Ethics Thesis," involves what he calls "the modern extended state," the "vast public sea" in which governments float.

Local Government Practice July 28, 2010

The Public's Right to a Public-Interested Representative

Update: January 11, 2011 (see below)

According to a July 2 unpublished opinion by Judge Flanagan of the Washoe County (NV) district court, Carrigan v. Commission on Ethics of the State of Nevada (attached; see below), a city council member has a first amendment free speech right to vote where there is not "an actual, existing conflict of interest." (p. 13)