Gifts and Campaign Contributions: A Loophole Story
When is a gift a campaign contribution? This issue has been raised in
the trial of a Manhattan surrogate court judge, according to an
article in yesterday's New York Times.
Safra Working Papers
November 5, 2009
Gifts from National and State Associations
Many of the most difficult situations in government ethics involve
relationships that are not direct. For example, situations where the
company that provides a benefit does not do business with the local
government, but is owned by someone who owns another company that does
do business with or have an interest in legislation before the local
government (click here for
a recent example).
Conflicts of Interest
May 17, 2012
Gifts from Organizations That Are Not Restricted Sources, But . . .
I want to revisit a situation I mentioned a few days ago in a
post about ethics reform.
August 16, 2010
Gifts from Restricted Sources
Gifts from restricted sources, that is, from those doing business with
the local government (and their lobbyists), are exceptionally damaging, in that they make the public believe their officials can be bought or that their officials are running a pay-to-play government. It's too bad that at least some members of the Los Angeles ethics commission don't recognize this.
Conflicts of Interest
August 8, 2010
Gifts of Professional Services
The usual image we get when we hear about a government official getting
something free
from a contractor is of a new kitchen or driveway. But free services
can
also be invisible, like legal advice and other professional service.
Conflicts of Interest
January 11, 2016
Gifts of Sexual Relations
When gifts from lobbyists to government officials are discussed,
what they consist of is usually money (including campaign
contributions), meals, trips, and services. A pending Missouri House
bill (2059; attached, see below) seeks to extend the
definition of reportable "gift" from lobbyists in this context to
include:
Conflicts of Interest
November 8, 2012
Gifts to Agencies Should Be Cleared with an Ethics Adviser
With the frequent confusion of person and office, sometimes it's not
that easy to tell the difference between a gift to a local
government agency and a gift to its director. This confusion can
open an agency director to accusations of ethical misconduct.
Conflicts of Interest
January 28, 2009
Gifts to Local Governments - Two Very Different Examples
Gifts to local governments have become an issue recently in Sacramento,
CA and Richland Hills, TX. I
wrote about various aspects of this issue over two years ago. It's
time to raise it with respect to concrete examples.
Conflicts of Interest
April 15, 2013
Gifts to Officials' Family Members
Many major cities do not prohibit gifts from those seeking special benefits from the city government (restricted sources) to
family members of city officials. Such a prohibition may seem a stretch,
at least theoretically. How can a government interfere in the gifts given to an official's family members? Consider this situation, from 2011, which recently became
public.
Conflicts of Interest
March 17, 2012
Gifts with No Financial Value
It's amazing the lengths people will go to when they are accused of
bribery. Take Zehy Jereis, a former Yonkers, NY party chair who gave
nearly $175,000 to a Yonkers council member, and is being accused of
doing this in order to get her to make a pivotal vote in favor of his
client's controversial mall, according to an
article in yesterday's New York Times.
Conflicts of Interest
August 27, 2009
Gifts: Prohibition, Disclosure, or Both?
One of the most contentious topics in local government ethics is
prohibition vs. disclosure of gifts to officials. As with so many
government ethics issues, the best answer is both, but reaching
the best answer requires a thinking outside the box, along with a
sincere interest in ending pay-to-play, in this case, the use of gifts as a way to reward
officials for past or future conduct.
Resources & Learning
May 25, 2011
Giving Voice to Values I
The failure to deal responsibly with conflicts of interest has many
causes, but the principal cause is the silence of those who are not
directly responsible. I've written several times about some of the
reasons for this silence: fear, justifications, lack
of
moral courage, and a
lack of a feeling of professional obligation.
Resources & Learning
May 26, 2011
Giving Voice to Values II
This is the second half of my look at Mary C. Gentile's 2010 book, Giving Voice to Values.
Naming and Framing
Naming and Framing
Enforcement & Complaints
June 5, 2014
Going Beyond Dismissal to Provide Useful Guidance
A
week ago, I wrote about a poorly written provision in Denver's
ethics code, and the danger it poses not only to Denver, but also
elsewhere, since local governments in Colorado and in other
states are apt to look at the ethics code of such a large,
well-respected city (although now that its highness has two
meanings, who knows).
December 17, 2009
Good and Bad News from Three Cities
Good and Bad News from Memphis
The good news from Memphis is that newly-elected mayor A. C. Wharton, Jr. issued an ethics executive order last week (attached; see below). The order's provisions, which do not apply to council and its staff, are less valuable in their own right than as a prod to the council to improve the current ethics code.
January 29, 2014
Good News from Florida Legislative Leaders
After ripping apart one Florida ethics "reform" bill, it's nice to
be able to say that Florida's legislative leaders are planning to
do some good things this year. According to an
Integrity Florida press release today, the senate and house
leaders have committed themselves to do the following:
Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play
April 14, 2009
Good People Arguing for Pay-to-Play in a Charities Context
Broward County (FL), home of Ft. Lauderdale, is working on ethics
reform, something Ft. Lauderdale itself did in 2007. Today, according
to a
piece on the Sun-Sentinel
Broward Politics website, a county commissioner will be introducing a
bill to prevent county commissioners from soliciting contributions for
third parties, whether charities or other candidates, from those doing business with the county.
February 19, 2008
Google backs off when big money sidles by...
Recently, Google has taken what appears to be a distinctly less transparent and open approach to their news distribution search engine. Matthew Lee maintains a small blog/website called https://www.innercitypress.com/ and has a reputation for hounding the UN - specifically the UNDP about what he considers corruption. Recently though, google announced a partnership with the UNDP and here is what happened next:
(it seems that) "...
March 3, 2011
Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana Undermines His Ethics Reforms
On February 10, 2008, Bobby Jindal, the newly elected governor of
Louisiana, said in a
big speech:
-
Today, we take the first step towards building a better Louisiana where
our ethics laws are the gold standard - letting the rest of the world
know that corruption will no longer find a home here.
Ethics Commissions & Administration
February 3, 2014
Gov. Christie Should Not Be Selecting the State Ethics Director (Now or Ever)
Updates: February 5 and April 16, 2014 (see below)
Here is a must-read Star-Ledger op-ed piece by Paula Franzese, a professor at Seton Hall Law School and former chair of the New Jersey Ethics Commission (2006 to 2010). She provides a short history of the selection process for the executive director of the state EC, and then looks more closely at the context of the latest selection for that position.
Here is a must-read Star-Ledger op-ed piece by Paula Franzese, a professor at Seton Hall Law School and former chair of the New Jersey Ethics Commission (2006 to 2010). She provides a short history of the selection process for the executive director of the state EC, and then looks more closely at the context of the latest selection for that position.