Safra Working Papers

Talk about independent expenditures usually refers to such expenditures in support, or more often in opposition to, federal candidates. At the local level, the major independent expenditures tend to come from unions, both public service unions and construction unions. There are also cases where independent expenditures come from contractors and others seeking direct benefits from the candidates they support or oppose. This can look very much like a payoff for favors done and/or for future favors, generally referred to as pay to play.

You're a government official who has had an ethics complaint filed against you. You want it go away. What do you do?

Maricopa County (home of Phoenix) is doing an excellent job of showing America's local governments what not to do. In April, I wrote about the conflict that existed when the county attorney, after representing the county board of supervisors as it put together plans and contracts for a new county courthouse, decided to investigate the board's handling of these plans and contracts. The outcry over this conflict led the county attorney to turn the investigation over to another county.

In most cities and counties throughout the United States, the city or county attorney is in charge of the government ethics program. I have written a great deal about why this is not a best practice, but city and county attorneys still keep providing further reasons. Here's one from Tioga County, NY.

According to an article in the Times-Herald, a Montgomery County (PA) judge ruled that the county commissioners do not have authority to prohibit employees of the district attorney or sheriff's offices from participating in political activities or running for office.

Update: August 18, 2012 (see below)

There is a longstanding pattern of scandals in the cities that the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL) chooses for its annual meeting. COGEL was in Chicago when Rod Blagojevich was arrested, and in New Orleans when Rep. Jefferson was re-elected despite the bribery charges against him (they held). COGEL stayed in the D.C. hotel where then mayor Marion Barry had just been arrested.

In some counties, when a company seeks small-business or women- or minority-owned business designation for a county contract, this designation also applies to the municipalities within the county. Why can't the same sort of thing apply to lobbying? Tampa council member Lisa Montelione has asked this question, according to a September Tampa Bay Times article.

This is the third blog post on the West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) matter. This post considers the matter in the context of a wide range of problems affecting CRAs throughout southern Forida, which can be seen in reports in the area's newspapers and blogs. Several CRAs have also been investigated by various offices and commissions.

Vernon, the "Dream Machine" I've written about in two previous blog posts (1 and 2), is back in the news. This time, according to an article in yesterday's Los Angeles Times, it appears that there is a crack in the self-serving power structure that allowed a grandfather and grandson to run this purely industrial California city (pop.

Over the last few weeks, while I was putting the finishing touches on the second edition of the book Local Government Ethics Programs, there was a lot of action in the area of ethics reform. In the next few blog posts, I will summarize the action.

Orange County, CA

In June, the Phoenix council took a step toward ethics reform, based on the recommendations of a task force (I critiqued the task force recommendations in an April post entitled "Disappointing Report from Ethics Task Force in Phoenix").

Last November, I wrote a long blog post examining an important general advisory opinion from the District of Columbia's ethics commission on the subject of constituent services.

In January, I wrote a blog post about the District of Columbia ethics board's first public forum seeking recommendations for ethics reform. On April 17, the ethics board published a report that makes recommendations for improvements to the city's ethics program (attached; see below).