Safra Working Papers | City Ethics

January 20, 2010

Exempting Special Developer Board Members from City Ethics Code in Dallas

According to a January 15 memorandum, a week from today the Dallas city council will be considering an amendment to the city's ethics code, which would exclude municipal management district (MMD) board members from the ethics code (it has already been approved by the council's economic development committee).

Conflicts of Interest April 19, 2012

Explaining the Business Aspects of a Conflict Situation

Here's an interesting conflict situation out of Forsyth County, Georgia. According to an article in the Forsyth News, a county commissioner owns a company that buys county water and sells it to county residents who used to have wells. The company owns the infrastructure that supplies water to four subdivisions in the county. It is one of several companies that do this. The companies are charged the flat commercial water rate, rather than residential rates that increase with use.

November 19, 2008

Extension of Legislative Immunity in Recent Case of New York Municipality

I may seem obsessed with legislative immunity, but it is both a timely topic for so old a constitutional concept and a serious threat to local government ethics enforcement that, I feel, the government ethics community should start dealing with offensively rather than, as it is now being handled, defensively.

October 6, 2009

Extortion Convictions in Dallas -- A Fascinating Story

Yesterday, according to an article in the Dallas Observer, Don Hill, a former Dallas council member, and four of his associates were found guilty of participating in an incredible extortion plot relating to affordable housing in South Dallas.

September 1, 2009

Extreme Ethics Enforcement in China

Last's week's Economist provides a look at a new form of local government ethics enforcement in China, which exists because local governments have failed to institute ethics programs. That form of enforcement is murder, and it appears to be increasingly accepted by the courts.

Resources & Learning February 27, 2009

F. G. Bailey's The Prevalence of Deceit

Another cause for my last blog entry, on the three lies of government ethics, is that I had just finished F. G. Bailey's book The Prevalence of Deceit (Cornell, 1991). The book is about the close connection between deceit and power. Bailey pictures politics as a contest for power that employs rhetoric.

October 10, 2012

Fall Reading: Out of Character

I don't talk much in this blog or in my book Local Government Ethics Programs about character. However, there is another approach to government ethics that is sometimes referred to as "the character approach." For example, the Josephson Institute trains local officials on the six pillars of character. There are ethics codes, too, that take a character approach to government ethics.

March 12, 2009

False Presentation of an Ethics Ordinance - In Jackson County, MO, Of Course

Every time I check up on Jackson County, MO, I find something more that's shameful, if that word can be used anymore. This time a blog sent me to a You Tube video of the county legislature passing the new ethics ordinance, which I discussed in a blog entry earlier this week.

Ethics Codes & Reform July 1, 2010

False Statements in Elections

Honesty, although central to ethics, is not central to government ethics. The reason for this is that honesty, or falsity, is so complex, it is almost impossible to define or enforce. And first amendment freedom of speech places so many limitations on government regulation of expression short of libel (the intentional attempt to falsely destroy another's reputation). Life is full of mistakes and misreadings, half-truths and kernels of truth, and these do not constitute falsity. Honesty comes in more shades of gray than a black-and-white movie.

Ethics Codes & Reform November 29, 2006

Falsely Impugning Reputation

There is a lot of talk about courtesy in politics, but most discourtesy involves lack of respect and uncontrolled emotions on the part of officials in their relations with each other. It becomes an ethical problem when citizens are attacked in order to intimidate them and others from being involved in local politics. The conflicting interest here is central to democracy: participation in government. False personal attacks are a favorite means of decreasing participation and citizen oversight. I've been on the receiving end myself, and it is ugly.

January 7, 2010

Family and Conflicts in Broward County (FL)

Many complex conflicts of interest involve the spouses and other close family members of local government officials, as can be seen in Broward County (FL, home of Ft. Lauderdale) according to an article in the Sun-Sentinel.

May 5, 2008

Favoring Friends - The Massachusetts Approach

Everyone knows it’s not right for government officials to favor their friends, but because friendships are so difficult to define, they don’t appear in ethics codes. Relatives can be defined, domestic partners can be defined, business associates can be defined, but not boyfriends or pals or old buddies. This is one of the limitations of dealing with ethics in the form of a law. But the Massachusetts Ethics Commission, which deals with local government as well as state government officials, has found a way to deal with favoritism given to friends.

June 25, 2008

Favoring Friends and Family Catches Up to Baltimore's Mayor

Two years after allegations made by the Baltimore Sun, two years after state prosecutors began an investigation, a year and a half after being appointed mayor (after being city council president), and six months after being elected mayor, Baltimore's Sheila Dixon's alleged favoring of friends and family has been brought before a grand jury, according to an article in today's Sun.

June 2, 2009

FBI Investigation in Cuyahoga County Leads to First Phase of Charges

A three-year FBI investigation of Cuyahoga County (which includes Cleveland) appears to have begun with a sting operation involving building inspectors, where an undercover agent offered bribes, and they were accepted, according to an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Six building inspectors were charged in May.

February 17, 2012

Federal Decision on Citizens and the Attorney-Client Privilege

Music to my ears in an order yesterday from the federal court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, in a case involving an unsuccessful attempt by certain Wisconsin state legislators to claim the attorney-client privilege with respect to documents relating to redistricting. What resonates so nicely is the way the court considered state citizens to be the client of the private lawyer.

Ethics Codes & Reform September 14, 2011

Federal Gift Prohibition Applies to Most Local Governments

I came across a decision in Patty Salkin's Law of the Land blog today involving a federal statute that allows federal prosecution of those who give gifts to local officials in amounts greater than $5,000.

Conflicts of Interest November 29, 2006

Fees and Honorariums

Accepting fees and honorariums is a minor conflict, but one that occurs a great deal. Please share your thoughts and experiences.

100(15). Fees and Honorariums

No official or employee* may accept a fee or honorarium for an article, for an appearance or speech, or for participation at an event, in his or her official capacity. However, he or she may receive payment or reimbursement for necessary expenses related to any such activity.

Ethics Codes & Reform February 10, 2009

Fighting Last Year's War Is Not the Way to Draft an Ethics Code

Type "ethics" into the search line at utah.gov, and all that comes up is Archery Ethics Course Online.

In response to what are referred to in Utah as last year's "ethics wars," a new legislative ethics bill has been drafted. What is interesting for local government ethics is how focused the new bill is on fighting last year's war, with little thought about anything else.

Transparency & Disclosure October 17, 2008

Financial Disclosure for Quasi-Governmental Organizations -- A Need for Compromise

To what extent should financial disclosure rules be applied to nonprofits that do government work?

According to an article in Sunday's New York Times, two years ago New York State extended disclosure requirements to the board members of nonprofits "affiliated with, sponsored by or created by a county, city, town or village government." The goal was more transparency in quasi-governmental organizations.

Transparency & Disclosure April 12, 2011

Financial Disclosure Requirements Are Minimal

Update: May 14, 2011 (see below)

An ethics controversy in Hartford presents a perfect opportunity to show the difference between ethics and law, and the right way to approach financial disclosure requirements.