Dallas Ethics Reform Proposals to Go to Vote November 9
Dallas
council members' control over development in their districts led
earlier this month to the
conviction of one council member and four associates for extortion.
City Related
October 30, 2009
Misuse of the Baltimore City Foundation
Update: November 11, 2009 (see below)
Is there any worse way to skirt government ethics rules and misuse public money and position than via a charitable organization? And yet it happens again and again. This time it happened in Baltimore, according to the results of an extensive investigation by the Baltimore Sun.
October 29, 2009
Two Case Studies
Here are two interesting local government ethics case studies from
matters in the news this week.
A Job Can Effectively Be a Gift
A Job Can Effectively Be a Gift
Local Government Practice
October 28, 2009
Local Government Legal Defense Funds
I've
talked about legal defense funds in the past as a way to accept
large gifts from those doing business with a local government, but I
referred, tangentially, to only one local government legal
defense fund, that of
former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. So I did some research and
came up with a few other examples, which are worth knowing about if the
issue arises in your city or county.
Conflicts of Interest
October 26, 2009
Firewalls and Indirect Financial Interests
Updates: November 28, 2009 (see below, with December 23 correction)
When a local government official co-owns a company, is it enough to create a separate company owned solely by another co-owner to do business with the official's city?
October 23, 2009
Political Deal-Making, Election Time Complaints, and Overinclusive Language in Milton, GA
Is political deal-making a government ethics violation? This is a tough
area. Government ethics is about the conflict of personal and public
interests. Political interests are generally left out of the equation
unless non-political benefits are involved. In politics, you are allowed
to put your personal interests first, at least until you win.
October 22, 2009
Two More HUD/City Loan Conflict Cases
A few days ago, I wrote a blog
post about how several government officials in Wausau mishandled a
conflict situation involving the purchase of property fixed up with an
interest-free loan from HUD. Yesterday's The State of South Carolina
covers two
other HUD loan conflict situations in Columbia, which are being
handled only a bit better.
October 18, 2009
Irresponsible Handling of a Possible Conflict by Four Local Government Officials
One problem in government ethics is that when conflict situations are
dealt with responsibly, there is rarely a record of them. They pass
quietly, failing to end up in the newspaper, at an ethics commission,
or in court. So generally we're stuck learning from the times when
conflict situations are dealt with irresponsibly. One of these situations, in Wausau, Wisconsin, made it to court, and a decision this
week by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
sets the facts out clearly (the decision is attached; see below).
The Facts
The Facts
Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play
October 15, 2009
Leaving Unions Out of Pay-to-Play Laws
Update: February 2, 2010 (see below)
A recent New York Times article concerns a potential conflict in the city council speaker's office. But what is most interesting about the article is the bigger question it raises about differentiating between businesses and unions in pay-to-play laws.
October 14, 2009
Another Local Government Official's Charity Mess. And Why Golf?
Once again, a local government official's attempt to use a charity to
get around campaign finance laws has blown up in his face. According to
an
article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, an Atlanta council
member was fined $25,000 by a state court for failing to register a
foundation (named after himself) and failing to maintain financial
records for it.