Safra Working Papers | City Ethics

Ethics Codes & Reform March 3, 2011

Three Ways of Affecting Ethics in the Government Workplace

Despite the many differences between corporate and government ethics, sometimes the corporate ethics world has a lot to teach the government ethics world, especially considering that corporate ethics has a zillion times the personnel and budget to work with.

February 27, 2009

Thumbs Up and Down Today

Thumbs up for the Virginia House of Delegates General Laws Committee. According to an editorial in today's Charlottesville Daily Progress, this House committee greatly improved a Senate bill on disclosure of conflicts of interest by local land-use board members. The Senate wanted to make disclosure of financial interests in rea

May 8, 2008

Tilting at Wind Farms in Northern New York State

Ethics in a small town can be very problematic when one large company with special property interests comes into town. Whether it is a developer, a landfill owner, or other sort of business that seeks to get property or expand its holdings at an inexpensive price, its needs often lead it to tempt individual local government officials or dominate the town's politics. In Franklin County (northeastern New York State), a new sort of business has been causing local governments ethics problems: wind farm companies.

Ethics Codes & Reform February 11, 2010

Time and the Drafting of Conflict of Interest Provisions

Time is a very important element of conflicts of interest. Some conflicts simply exist, but others either occur suddenly or suddenly become relevant.

For example, an official can have a piece of property for twenty years and then suddenly the owner of a neighboring piece of property asks the local government to help turn it into something that would significantly raise the value of the official's property. That's an easy to problem to deal with.

Enforcement & Complaints March 11, 2009

Time Limits on Investigations

It's amazing how quickly a legislature can move when a bill is so embarrassing, the state's major newspaper calls it "Great for unethical public officials. Lousy for taxpayers." How quickly? Same day service.

April 30, 2009

Today Nevada Legislature Is Debating Its Own Legislative Immunity, and Local Legislators', Too

The Nevada legislature is really going out of its way to make sure that its members, and no one else in the state, is protected by legislative immunity with respect to the state ethics commission.

March 15, 2007

Today's Weak Defense of Serious Conflict

South Africa's police commissioner upon the revelation that he had met privately and repeatedly with a drug kingpin: "Does that mean that anyone who has an appointment with him is a criminal?"

November 22, 2006

Tolerance of Intellectual Dishonesty

In the November 5 issue of the New York Times Book Review, Michael Kinsley wrote, "The biggest flaw in our democracy is ... the enormous tolerance for intellectual dishonesty. Politicians are held to account for outright lies, but there seems to be no sanction against saying things you obviously don't believe. ...

Ethics Commissions & Administration November 22, 2013

Too Conflicted to Sit on an Ethics Commission

It should be heartening to announce that the head of an important good government organization has been appointed to the North Carolina Ethics Commission. But sadly, it is not.

Francis X. De Luca is the president of the Civitas Institute, which has taken strong stands for improving North Carolina's state ethics program. He is, therefore, someone who should understand government ethics and act to improve the program from within.

Local Government Practice April 3, 2013

Too Much Discretion

Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said yesterday, in reference to a sting operation that led to the arrest of several elected officials in New York City and the village of Spring Valley, NY, “A show-me-the-money culture seems to pervade every level of government.” However, that's not really the moral of the story.

March 20, 2007

Top 10 Ethics Issues for 2006

We have selected what we consider takes the cake for 2006 in terms of Ethics Issues covered by the media...

Resources & Learning October 1, 2024

Top 10 Ethics Movies

We have been batting this around for a while, and have come up with the following list:

The Top Ten BEST ETHICS Movies of all time

1. Man for All Seasons

Paul Scofield brilliantly plays Thomas More who stands up for his principals against the ultimate difficult boss, King Henry VIIII. In the end, he dies for his faith and his principals, but he gets to become the patron saint of lawyers.

Ethics Commissions & Administration June 21, 2010

Top EC Officials' Obligations Relating to Discussions of Their Personnel Matters

Ethics commission leaders are falling like flies in Hawaii. I recently wrote about Honolulu's EC chair resigning in order to be involved in a mayoral candidate's campaign (he had already been involved in other campaigns). And last Wednesday, the state EC fired its long-time director, according to an editorial in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

November 25, 2013

Top Tallahassee Officials Oppose Ethics Advisory Panel Recommendations

Now that Tallahassee's mayor has opposed all of the recommendations from a special ethics advisory panel (attached; see below), according to an article last week in the Tallahassee Democrat, it's about time to look at those recommendations and what, it appears, is going to happen to them.

Resources & Learning March 6, 2007

Top Ten Ethics Films

We have been batting this around for a while, and have come up with the following list:

The Top Ten BEST ETHICS Movies of all time

1. Man for All Seasons

2. Gandhi

Gentle courage in the face of extreme resistance to doing the right thing.

Conflicts of Interest March 6, 2013

Total Gift Bans and Legal Defense Funds

A February draft advisory opinion from the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission (attached; see below) raises two different issues. One is the problematic nature of a total gift ban, that is, a ban on all gifts from anyone, accompanied by a whole host of exceptions. The other is the important differences among gifts, campaign contributions, and contributions to an official's legal defense fund.

Ethics Codes & Reform August 17, 2010

Toward Better Ethics Rules, Training, Oversight, and Enforcement in a Florida School District

I've been writing a lot about the controversies surrounding a new Broward County (FL) ethics code, but there's also been controversy in the Broward County School District that is likely to lead to an ethics code of its own (according to a Miami Herald editorial on Saturday, a former school board member pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges this year, and another member revealed that her husband works for a firm that frequently lobbies the school board).

Transparency & Disclosure November 28, 2006

Transactional Disclosure

This is the place to discuss disclosure of possible conflicts of interest at the point where they arise, that is, where an official or employee's continuing participation in a matter becomes a matter of concern because of a conflict between his or her government role and his or her other roles, business, professional, or personal. Withdrawal (recusal) is the central act in a conflict of interest situation.

Conflicts of Interest November 29, 2006

Transactions with Subordinates

This provision deals with the potential coercion, or appearance of coercion, that accompanies outside dealings between officials and subordinates. Please share your experiences with this problem and ways to deal with it in ethics codes.

100(14).

January 13, 2009

Transition Team Conflicts in Sacramento

Sacramento recently had an interesting situation, which set off accusations of conflicts of interest. According to an article in the Sacramento Bee, the newly-elected weak mayor came into office with a volunteer transition team, consisting primarily of people who have business with the city or represent people and entities that have business with the city.