Safra Working Papers | City Ethics

Enforcement & Complaints May 18, 2012

Using Confidentiality as a Smokescreen

It's Attack the Ethics Commission week once again, this time in New York State. According to an April 16 article in the Albany Times-Union, a mayor from one party filed a complaint against the deputy majority leader of the New York Senate, who is a member of the other party. The complaint is included below the article, and a statement by the mayor, about the filing, is quoted.

Conflicts of Interest September 8, 2010

Using Local Government Employees for Private Purposes

Using government employees for private purposes is one of the most common ethics code violations.

This violation is especially bad because it involves coercion of individuals, in this case subordinates who are not in a position to say no. Coercion and intimidation rarely occur outside of a poor ethical environment.

This violation also shows a serious failure to recognize the boundary between public and private, which is the heart of government ethics.

Resources & Learning December 19, 2011

Václav Havel on Government Ethics

To commemorate the death of Václav Havel, here are some quotations from his work that are relevant to government ethics:

"The prerequisite for everything political is moral. Politics really should be ethics put into practice."

“Even a purely moral act that has no hope of any immediate and visible political effect can gradually and indirectly, over time, gain in political significance.”

Ethics Codes & Reform November 6, 2012

Vague, Character-Based Ethics Rules Give More Power Than Guidance

A presidential election day is a good time to consider how vague, character-based ethics rules can be misused.

According to an article in the October 27 Economist, the Iranian constitution, for example, requires a presidential candidate to have the attributes of "trustworthiness and piety." Iraq's requires that a presidential candidate have "a good reputation." And Singapore's president must be a "person of integrity."

Conflicts of Interest August 17, 2009

Valuing Gifts, and Courtesies to an Office

Update below (Aug. 20, 2009)
Is the value of a gift given to a government official its fair market value or what the official gets out of it? For example, if you give an official a sportscar worth $40,000 and he only drives it ten times a year, is its value $40,000 or the cost of renting a car ten times a year? If you give an official a ticket to a football game and she leaves after the first half, is the value half the ticket or its full price?

Conflicts of Interest January 5, 2011

Vendor Codes of Conduct Sound Better Than They Are

Local government vendor or supplier codes of conduct are not commonly found in the U.S. In a limited search, I couldn't find one. But corporations commonly have them, as do some Canadian cities and some states and state agencies. And they sound like a good idea.

The reason I raise this idea is that Cuyahoga County's new county executive says he will have one drafted (see my most recent blog post). What can we expect from such a code of conduct?

February 10, 2011

Vernon, the Dragons, and the Knights

Yes, boys and girls, it's time for another episode of every government ethics lover's favorite tale, Vernon and the Dragons. In the last episode, back in November, the dragon known as Los Angeles County was considering a proposal to require the city of Vernon to competitively bid housing for the city, which houses very few people, and mostly friends of government insiders (it used to be mostly city employees).

August 20, 2012

Very Problematic Fort Worth Ethics Reform Proposals

In a long cover story in last week's Fort Worth Weekly, Peter Gorman looked at the state of government ethics in Fort Worth and, most important, some proposed changes to its ethics program that take it in the wrong direction. Since it was the only article on the proposals, and Gorman paraphrased me often (based on an interview), I was waiting for other local newspapers to jump in and confirm what Gorman wrote.

Local Government Practice March 31, 2010

Vive Les Differences!

One of the biggest differences between unethical conduct and criminal conduct by government officials is the matter of proving intent. For example, a bribe is nothing more than a gift to a government official where it has been proven that the official intentionally took a gift in return for certain conduct. In government ethics, taking a gift beyond a certain value is all that needs to be proven to show misconduct. The official's conduct, beyond accepting the gift, is irrelevant, as is the official's intent.

Conflicts of Interest March 10, 2010

Voiding Contracts, Transactions, and Permits Where There Is an Ethics Violation

In my previous blog post, the issue arose of voiding a planning and zoning commission's approval of a permit because one of the commission members had a conflict of interest. Connecticut law automatically invalidates the commission action, without any individual or body having to act. But this is unusual. In fact, most jurisdictions do not expressly provide for the avoidance of permits, contracts, or other transactions.

Conflicts of Interest March 25, 2014

Volunteering Professional Services: An In-Kind Contribution or Not?

Can anyone volunteer for a local political campaign without it being considered a contribution? Isn't it everyone's right to do so? Isn't this just about the most important thing a citizen can do, short of running for office herself?

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play January 13, 2014

Vote Buying, A Different Sort of Gift

An interesting article in today's New York Times focuses on an unusual feature of an unhealthy local government ethics environment. This feature is payment for votes, something we think of in terms of old city machines. In this case, it involved school board elections in Donna, TX, a town of 16,000. The FBI, rather than local prosecutors, made the arrests.

November 14, 2007

Voter ID Laws

Voter ID laws, which are being pushed by the Bush Administration and by Republicans at the state level, have an effect on municipal elections, as well.

Ethics Commissions & Administration June 25, 2013

Voting For or Against Is Not the Question; Independence Is the Answer

Some people incorrectly believe that a conflict of interest requires an official not to vote in such a way as to benefit himself. That is, if the official might benefit from a vote, it's okay for him to vote against it, because that shows that the official is not seeking to benefit himself.

Conflicts of Interest March 6, 2011

Voting with a Conflict of Interest Is Not Always Illegal, But It's Never Good for Democracy

"It's a very powerful story of a public official who wanted to do the right thing, who got appropriate advice, and then ended up being punished. He was punished for doing his public duty and voting, just because a political ally was involved. I don't call that a conflict of interest. I call that democracy."

—Joshua Rosenkranz, a New York lawyer representing Sparks City (NV) council member Mike Carrigan in his appeal to the U.S.

Conflicts of Interest November 27, 2006

Waivers and Exclusions

This is the place to share opinions about and experiences with waivers and exclusions (or "exemptions"). Waivers can be a controversial topic, so arguments for and against, and especially good and bad experiences with waivers will be helpful to communities considering them. Another important topic is the standards that are set for obtaining waivers.

102.

Ethics Codes & Reform November 13, 2010

Waivers and Ironies

This post will be of special interest to those who enjoy the occasional ironies that arise in the world of government ethics. According to an article in today's New York Times, the woman named to be New York City's new schools chancellor has decided to resign from her positions on the boards of Coca Cola, IBM, and Hearst Magazines (where she is chair), at a great financial cost to her. Of these three, only IBM has contracts with the city.

July 26, 2008

Wanted: Old Toothless Pals Only - The New Office of Congressional Ethics

The actual and perceived independence of an ethics commission is one of the most important aspects of a government ethics program.

The U.S. House of Representatives finally decided to be overseen by an independent Office of Congressional Ethics. Hallelujah!

August 20, 2009

Was There In Fact an Ethics Emergency in Corpus Christi?

In May I wrote a blog post about a so-called ethics emergency in Corpus Christi, declared by a lame-duck council at its last meeting. This so-called emergency was the excuse for pushing through ethics reforms without running them by the city's ethics commission or allowing public discussion. The new council quickly suspended the reforms, pending review by the ethics commission.

Ethics Commissions & Administration December 1, 2009

Ways Not to Select the Members of an Ethics Commission

There are many right and wrong ways to select an ethics commission. The rightest ways take the selection process out of the hands of anyone who could possibly come before the EC, because that places a conflict of interest at the very center of a process intended to guide and enforce the responsible handling of conflicts. The rightest ways also prevent anyone who could possibly come before the EC, or their colleagues, from sitting on the EC.