City Related
Barriers to Civic Engagement -- a TED Talk from Dave Meslin
I just watched this 6.5 Minute TED Talk that pulls apart all the reasons that we become "disengaged" in the political process.
I think he has hit the nail on the head - he left me feeling a faint ray of hope - that we can use our power as voters to push for reforms of all of his points.
Please watch - only 6 minutes, and it gives us some answers and maybe a way forward !
https://www.ted.com/talks/dave_meslin_the_antidote_to_apathy
Montreal's Charbonneau Commission Report Is Published
A Lobbying Pledge
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.
San Jose Shows the Importance of Ongoing Lobbying Disclosure
Fraud and Ethics Enforcement
Criminal enforcement of ethics violations usually involves fraud, and less so honest services fraud (which was essentially misuse of office) now that it has been essentially limited to bribery. And yet ethics enforcement rarely involves fraud, because ethics codes do not have fraud provisions. This is pretty strange, when you think about it: the same misconduct being treated as apples and oranges.
Private Police Forces and Government Ethics
Favoritism
A Critique of New Orleans' Ethics Program
A City of Industry, and Conflicts Galore
Anyone who follows my blog knows that my favorite city to write about is Vernon, CA, the "Dream Machine," a city with lots of industry and no one other than city employees who might complain about what's in their backyard, or call for oversight.
MO Municipal Ticket Fixing Systems
More from St. Louis County municipalities. According to an article in Sunday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, several of these municipalities — with the connivance of municipal court judges, local prosecutors, police officers, and lawyers — use the state's point system for traffic tickets to get more money for themselves. The result is a system of ticket fixing that takes institutional corruption to a new level.
The Administrative-Criminal Enforcement Fiefdom in Ferguson, MO
The word "fiefdom" does not appear in the U.S. Justice Department's March 4 report on Ferguson, MO's police department, but that is what the report describes. What is unusual about the fiefdom is that it is controlled by the council, not by an executive or attorney. It is far from a classic fiefdom, which is why Ferguson has once again attracted my attention.