City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

April 17, 2014

Dealing with Wheeling

"Wheeling" is a term I just discovered. The context is that NJ governor Chris Christie made a campaign promise to deal with "wheeling," and then failed to, according to a South Jersey Times editorial yesterday. Here's how the editorial describes the practice (many NJ local governments prohibit or limit contributions from their contractors):

It goes like this: Smith County has a fat consulting contract with Joe Blow Associates.

April 16, 2014

Local Ethics Reform in Massachusetts

Because Massachusetts has one of the better state ethics programs with jurisdiction over local officials, there are very few local ethics programs, unlike the situation in Florida, California, or Texas, for example.

Conflicts of Interest April 16, 2014

A One-Way Prohibition on Misuse of Office for Clients

On Monday, Anthony Man of the Sun-Sentinel wrote an excellent analysis of the lobbying elements of Florida Senate bill 846 (a copy of the bill is attached; see below), which was recently passed by the senate unanimously.

Resources & Learning April 15, 2014

Spring Reading: "Perlmann's Silence" and Self-Justification

Self-justification is an important element in ethical misconduct, cover-ups, and officials' public denials and explanations of conduct. It aids and abets our blind spots. It is a sign of weakness, anxiety, and fear more than of poor character

Self-justification is something each of us engages in. Sometimes we fight it, sometimes we effectively compromise with it, and sometimes we give in to it. The one thing most of us rarely do is think or talk openly about it.

Ethics Commissions & Administration April 15, 2014

Municipal Attorneys Should Stay Out of Ethics Proceedings

When a city or county attorney's office does not represent the ethics commission, should that office play any role in an ethics proceeding? I don't believe it should.

Ethics Commissions & Administration April 14, 2014

Local or State Jurisdiction Over Local Legislators?

Is local government ethics enforcement appropriate for local legislators? This question is currently being asked in Sarasota County, FL and Wyandotte County/Kansas City, KS. A key to whether this is the right question is who is asking the question. In both cases, it is local legislators who have been respondents in ethics enforcement proceedings, and some of their legislative colleagues.

Ethics Commissions & Administration April 11, 2014

Council Ethics Committees

Many local legislative bodies have ethics committees, even where there is an ethics commission. The reason for these self-regulatory committees is that these bodies have their own codes of conduct that go beyond conflicts of interest, and which are enforced, discussed, and amended separate from the city or county's ethics program. Some local ethics programs consist of nothing more than a council ethics committee and code of conduct, but that situation is not the topic of this blog post.

Resources & Learning April 10, 2014

Spring Reading: Dennis Moberg on Frames of Perception in Organizations

I thought that I had covered all the blind spots that wreak such havoc on local government ethics (see the section in my book Local Government Ethics Programs). But Dennis J.

Ethics Commissions & Administration April 9, 2014

A Court Decision in Florida Validates an Inspector General's Advice

Here's a good-news story from Delray Beach, FL. But first the bad news.

Transparency & Disclosure April 8, 2014

Contracting Out Government Work to Prevent Transparency

Here's a good way to get around local government transparency laws. If you want an appointee's activities to remain secret, let him be hired by a private entity, give money to the private entity sufficient to pay his salary, and don't communicate with him via government-owned computers or smartphones.

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