An Indirect Benefit to a State Official Regarding a County Contract
According to an article in today's New York Daily News, an investigation by the U. S.
Safra Working Papers
Conflicts of Interest
November 27, 2010
An Instructive Local Government Ethics Matter in a Recent French Film
There's an instructive local government ethics situation in the 2008 French film The Class (Entre les murs), which I watched yesterday evening. A teenage student is being given a disciplinary hearing at his public high school in Paris after accidentally hitting a girl with his bag and walking out of his class. His teacher is a teacher representative on the disciplinary committee.
July 28, 2011
An Insufficiently Bid Contract in Essex County, NJ
It's not every day that an
article about an insufficiently bid county contract appears on the
front page of a major newspaper, but that's what happened today with
the New York Times.
February 22, 2007
An Intelligent Lay Discussion of Conflicts of Interest
Here's an interesting, intelligent lay discussion about a particular alleged conflict of interest, and how to deal with local conflicts in general. It centers around an entry in a local-politics-oriented blog in Davis, California.
September 19, 2012
An Interest Discovery (sic)
It took a law student doing a summer job, but there is finally confirmation of what I
have been saying for a long time: normal people do not
understand the word "interest" as it is commonly used by lawyers in
the government ethics context. It was for this reason that I rarely
use the word "interest" in my book Local Government Ethics Programs.
July 9, 2012
An Interesting Agency Independence from Ethics Enforcement Issue in Broward County
I've written about the issue of ethics
commission jurisdiction over independent agencies and
authorities, which arose in recent years in such places as
Jacksonville, Louisville, and Palm Beach and Broward counties in
Florida. The issue has arisen again in Broward County, in a
different and interesting context.
Conflicts of Interest
August 31, 2009
An Interesting Three-Headed Potential Conflict
Here's an interesting potential conflict.
Local Government Practice
June 10, 2014
An Obligation Not to Be Complicit in Misconduct at Other Governmental Levels
An
investigative piece in yesterday's New York Times raises
an interesting issue regarding complicity in ethical
misconduct: is there an obligation not to be complicit with
misconduct at a different governmental level when, arguably, that misconduct
financially benefits one's own government?
March 3, 2007
An Occasion for Compassion and Respect
The big story this week from Largo (not Key Largo, but a West Coast town), Florida has a little bit of everything in it.
March 2, 2010
An Odd Ethics Commission in Oakland
I
recently noted Oakland, CA's odd nepotism ordinance. Well, its Public
Ethics Commission is also odd, and worthy of a look.
Transparency & Disclosure
August 13, 2010
An Official's Possibly Conflicting Interests Are Public Information
Recusal is a two-part process. First, the official discloses his
interest in a matter that has or will come before his board or agency.
Then, the official does not participate in that matter.
Conflicts of Interest
May 23, 2012
An Official's Relationship with a Bidder
Here's an interesting conflict situation from San Mateo County, CA.
According to an
article in yesterday's Almanac, prosecutors are investigating
the selection by two school boards of a project architect
for construction projects at the same time that the project
architect was remodeling the house of a district official.
May 22, 2009
An Undisciplined Nevada Supreme Court Legislative Immunity Decision
To those who read my
recent blog entry, it will come as no surprise that, yesterday, the
Nevada Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the District Court's ruling
in the Nevada legislative immunity case (the Order of Affirmation, in
searchable form, is attached to this blog entry below).
Conflicts of Interest
September 18, 2009
An Undisclosed, Widely-Known Conflict as a Matter of Life and Death
Undisclosed conflicts can cause a lot of problems, but rarely are they
a matter of life and death. In Collin County, TX, north of Dallas, an
undisclosed conflict could have been responsible for a man's death
sentence (and, perhaps, many more sentences).
December 7, 2009
An upcoming Supreme Court appeal holds interest for government ethics
Today's NY Times has an interesting article on the "honest-services fraud" statute:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/us/07honest.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=joun%2… (URL may require subscription)
[Quote]:
It has become an important tool for federal prosecutors, who used it successfully against the lobbyist Jack Abramoff and many of his associates. It is an element of the cases against former Gov.
Conflicts of Interest
July 23, 2008
An Upside-Down Conflict of Interest
According to a
recent article in the San Diego Union-Tribune,
the chair of one of the city's economic development commissions made an
unusual deal with, and a half-million-dollar instant profit from (the
purchase and sale transactions were filed at the same time), the
commission three years before he became a member.
Resources & Learning
February 23, 2016
Announcing the Book "The Regulation of Local Lobbying"
At last, I have put up online a final version of what has turned out to be
a separate book, The
Regulation of Local Lobbying. This free 342-page
resource has three parts. The first part explains what local
lobbying is, how it differs from lobbying at the state and,
especially, the federal levels, and the special characteristics of
procurement and land us lobbying.
Transparency & Disclosure
November 27, 2006
Annual Disclosure
Often referred to as "Financial Disclosure," a term that makes it seem more invasive than it actually is, annual disclosure is an important, but controversial way to get officials and employees to consider their potential conflicts of interest on an annual basis, and to let the public know about such potential conflicts.
This is the place to share your opinions and experiences with annual disclosure.
Ethics Commissions & Administration
November 27, 2006
Annual Reports and Review of Ethics Laws
This is the place to discuss the usefulness of annual reports, as well as whether an Ethics Commission should periodically review the code and its rules, regulations, and administrative procedures. Please share your experiences with annual reports and reviews.
212 Annual Reports; Review of Ethics Laws.
1. The Ethics Commission must prepare and submit an annual report to the legislative body, summarizing the activities, decisions, and advisory opinions of the Commission. The report may also recommend changes to the text or administration of this code.
Enforcement & Complaints
March 12, 2009
Anonymous Complaints
Anonymous complaints are both important and problematic. Without
anonymous tips and hotlines, our justice system would not work nearly
as well as it does. With ethics programs, officials involved in
unethical conduct often have great power in the community, and the
people who know what they are doing are often the very people most
vulnerable to their retribution.
And yet there is an air of cowardice around anonymous complaints, possibly even moreso now that people make anonymous attacks on public figures all over the Internet.
And yet there is an air of cowardice around anonymous complaints, possibly even moreso now that people make anonymous attacks on public figures all over the Internet.