Conflicts

Who is the best sort of individual to select as an ethics commission member?  Some people believe it's a member of the clergy, because who else is more ethical? And there are many clergy members on ethics commissions across the country. But this shows either a misunderstanding of government ethics (that it's about being good rather than dealing responsibly with conflicts of interest) or a preference for appearances, even if it gives the public the wrong impression about what government ethics is all about.

Four years after I wrote a blog post entitled The Ethics of Today's Municipal Pension Plan Problems, according to an op-ed piece in the New York Times, New Jersey agreed with the S.E.C. never again to fraudulently hide

It is troubling that legislators insist that legislative immunity protects them in order that they may represent their constituents, and yet legislative bodies rarely have rules to ensure that their members represent their constituents by showing up to debate and vote.

Should advisory board and task force members be excepted from conflict of interest rules? Jurisdictions disagree about this. Some believe that, when a board has no authority to act or implement, the usual rules should not apply. The principal argument is that there are times when a government needs to get people with opposing interests together — such as business and union interests — in order to hash out community problems. Another argument is the need for expertise.

It's important not to have pension board members with serious conflicts of interest, such as a personal interest in the board's investments, or acting as providers of investment products (see my blog post on California reforms prohibiting such conflicts).

Yesterday, I wrote a blog post about intimidation, but I forgot to mention what might be the greatest fear among citizens relating to their local government:  the fear that if they speak out against local officials, especially school officials, it will affect their school-age children.

Here's an interesting modern spin on an old-fashioned nepotism/conflict of interest matter. According to an article in Tuesday's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the husband of a member of a charter school's board was hired to teach at the charter school, and there is disagreement over whether there is a conflict or not.

There is nothing more important in local government ethics than timely, independent, professional ethics advice.

San Francisco's Conflict of Interest code has an unusual provision about voting on one's own conduct or position. You would think this provision goes without saying, but I can assure you it does not.

§3.210. Voting on Own Character or Conduct.

It would be easy to say that politics is a team sport, like football, while ethics is an individual sport, like tennis. But this simply isn't true. Both ethical behavior and unethical behavior can be done as a team.

Four years ago, in one of my first and most important blog posts, on ethical failures in leadership, I wrote that politics is a team sport, continuing as follows: