City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Conflicts of Interest October 1, 2010

Disclosure by Lawyer-Legislators

Two days ago, I wrote about a Louisiana lawyer-legislator who is arguing that disclosure rules should not apply to lawyers, because the practice of law is regulated by the state supreme court. The story behind an indictment in New Jersey this week makes a strong argument for applying disclosure rules to lawyers, as they are in California and North Carolina, only better.

Conflicts of Interest September 29, 2010

Staff Members and the Revolving Door

Update: October 15, 2010 (see below)

Decision-makers are given too much credit. Most individuals who vote on government matters are non-professionals who are paid little or nothing, and who rarely focus on the matters before their body. They are, therefore, very dependent on staff members who are professionally trained and who are paid to focus on the matters before the body.

Ethics Commissions & Administration September 29, 2010

Do Ethics Commissions Have Jurisdiction Over Officials' Practice of Law?

Lawyer-legislators are extremely creative people. The latest use of their creativity is to argue that ethics boards cannot require disclosure of a conflict of interest that arises from legal representation because they have no jurisdiction over the practice of law. Only the state Supreme Court has that jurisdiction.

September 27, 2010

A Stamford Ethics Controversy Involving Time Limits, Enforcement of Policy Declarations, and More

Update: October 8, 2010 (see below)

There's a fascinating ethics controversy going on in Stamford, CT which raises a number of issues involving time limits, the enforcement of declarations of policy, intimidation, and the roles of ethics commissions and inspectors general.

Time Limits

Resources & Learning September 25, 2010

Lewis Hyde's New Observations on Civic Virtue, Mixing Values, and the Freedom to Listen

Two years ago, I wrote a blog post about a book by Lewis Hyde entitled The Gift, which had a lot to say, philosophically, about gift-giving and -receiving, an issue of relevance to government ethics.

September 24, 2010

A Miscellany

An Active EC Is a Good Thing

September 24, 2010

The Republican Party Stands Against and Ignores Government Ethics, All in One Day

I make a great effort to be nonpartisan in choosing what and whom I write about. I am an unaffiliated voter who believes in nonpartisan local government. But yesterday, the Republican Party took a strong stand against government ethics and, in its most important statement in years, totally ignored it.

September 23, 2010

Local Legislators Investigate an Ethics Commission in Suffolk County

When I wrote about the disclosure controversy in Suffolk County back in July, I didn't realize that another interesting ethics issue was going on there. In late June, the county legislature had instituted an investigation of the county ethics commission. One reason for this investigation appears to be the commission's decision to allow the county executive to file only a state disclosure form, even though, it turned out, this decision was legally correct.

Transparency & Disclosure September 21, 2010

Confidential Information Provisions, Ethics, and Transparency

In Milwaukee County, according to an article in Sunday's Journal-Sentinel, a county supervisor is seeking to add to the county ethics code a confidential information provision that would not limit the prohibition to what is common in ethics codes: information divulged for someone's benefit.

September 21, 2010

Update on Vernon, The Ultimate Company Town

Those who, like me, are fascinated by Vernon, California, the ultimate company town, with an ethical environment that breaks nearly all the rules, will be happy to know that it was given a long treatment in a front-page article in Sunday's Los Angeles Times. There are no new revelations, but a few good quotes.

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