City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

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:

Ethics Codes & Reform December 18, 2015

Broad Responsibility for Ethical Misconduct

A couple of weeks ago, in a City and State column, veteran NYC reporter Wayne Barrett hit the nail on the head regarding the responsibility for failures to deal responsibly with conflicts of interest, specifically with respect to the conviction of former state assembly speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat:

Conflicts of Interest December 7, 2015

Public Relations

Local governments that lack a lobbying oversight program do not have to merely throw up their hands when a huge procurement matter arises. They have the choice to set rules for that matter which, if it works, may later be applied more generally.

Transparency & Disclosure December 2, 2015

Leading the Way on Lobbying Disclosure

When it comes to lobbying disclosure, local government agencies should lead the way. According to an article in the San Diego Reader, this is not the case with the San Diego Airport Authority, whose lobbying firm did not disclose any of the lobbying it did for the Authority in the first half of 2015.

November 25, 2015

Quote of the Day

"At the end of the day, anybody could fall into a trap like I did."

November 25, 2015

Montreal's Charbonneau Commission Report Is Published

The big news in local government ethics yesterday was the publication of the final report of Quebec's Charbonneau Commission, which investigated bid rigging in the Montreal area, involving not only government officials and contractors, but also the Mafia and Hells Angels (see my 2012 blog post on the investigation).

Ethics Codes & Reform November 20, 2015

A Lobbying Pledge

A Portland, OR mayoral candidate made an interesting pledge in September, according to an article in the Portland Tribune:

I will not permit any individual who was a paid member of my campaign or my mayoral staff to lobby me or my office on behalf of a private entity. This prohibition will extend through my full four-year term in office.

November 17, 2015

Quote of the Day

“If you hold a tiger by the tail, you have a difficult choice to make: Do you let go or not? It’s not a good thing to alienate any legislative leader.”

November 16, 2015

Quotes of the Day

“I think people should know right from wrong, and if folks are going to do something they’re not supposed to, they’re going to do it. If people are calling up commissioners at night on their personal cellphones, I have no idea about it. … If I knew something was going on, I would go directly to (County Attorney) David Escamilla.”
—Travis County, TX (Austin) Purchasing Agent Cyd Grimes. Travis County has no lobbying law.

Enforcement & Complaints November 16, 2015

Attacking Those Who Make Ethics Allegations

Several of the women who accused Bill Cosby of sexual misconduct toward them have filed defamation suits, based on his conduct and, especially, on the conduct of his attorneys, who not only stated Cosby's denial of sexual misconduct, but also went on the attack against the accusing women.

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