City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

August 23, 2010

The Fort Worth Council, Mayor, and City Attorney Deal Irresponsibly With a Conflict Situation

Updates: August 24 and 26, 2010 (see below)

For those who, like me, believe that neither a mayor nor a local legislative body nor a city attorney has any business getting involved in the government ethics process, here's an example you can use of the mess they can make when they do get involved.

Conflicts of Interest August 23, 2010

Alternatives to Allowing Conflicted Individuals to Sit on Advisory Boards

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.

Ethics Commissions & Administration August 22, 2010

General Advisory Opinions Are Very Useful

A couple of months ago, the Ohio Ethics Commission did something very wise and valuable: it drafted an advisory opinion on nepotism rules, gathering information from years of partial, specific advisory opinions, and providing examples. It even gives excellent definitions of each of the relevant terms, including such generally applicable terms as "public contract" and "anything of value."

Ethics Commissions & Administration August 21, 2010

Should an Ethics Commission Member Be Affiliated with a Firm That Represents Clients Before It?

Last Saturday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran a long article, "Connections Count at Law Firm," on the Washington/Atlanta-based law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge. This firm was known to me primarily as the firm behind the Pay to Pay Law Blog, a good, although too infrequent blog that looks at government ethics and campaign finance from the compliance side, that is, fr

Enforcement & Complaints August 20, 2010

A Possible Cause of Action When an Official Retaliates Against a Citizen

What can a citizen do when a local government official falsely impugns her reputation and retaliates against her due to her opposition to a matter the official supports? The City Ethics Model Code has a provision that deals with an official falsely impugning a citizen's reputation, but very few ethics codes contain such a provision. And even our model code has nothing that deals with retaliation.

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play August 19, 2010

An Important Court Decision on Limiting and Banning Campaign Contributions from Restricted Sources

The law on limiting campaign expenditures has been changing over the past couple of years. But the law on limiting campaign contributions has not. The standard in many instances is more liberal than with campaign expenditures, in others it is the same. And the application of the standard is highly contextual. A law in one jurisdiction, or at a particular time, might be constitutional, while in another jurisdiction, or at a different time, it is not.

August 18, 2010

Dragging Down the Level of Government Ethics Reform

A new way to obtain ethics reform is making some headway in New York State. A number of former bigwigs, including former governor Mario Cuomo, and former NYC mayors Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani, have created an organization called New York Uprising and a three-part pledge, one of which calls for a new state ethics commission and financial disclosure requirements (the other two involve redistricting and budget-making).

Conflicts of Interest August 18, 2010

The Fiduciary Duty of an Appointing Official

According to an article in yesterday's New York Times, the New York Governor’s Task Force on Public Authorities Reform has filed its report (not yet available online) on the implementation of the Public Authorities Reform Act of 2009, whose provisions are summarized in a separate document.

Ethics Codes & Reform August 17, 2010

Toward Better Ethics Rules, Training, Oversight, and Enforcement in a Florida School District

I've been writing a lot about the controversies surrounding a new Broward County (FL) ethics code, but there's also been controversy in the Broward County School District that is likely to lead to an ethics code of its own (according to a Miami Herald editorial on Saturday, a former school board member pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges this year, and another member revealed that her husband works for a firm that frequently lobbies the school board).

Enforcement & Complaints August 16, 2010

A Limit on the Use of the Legislative Immunity Defense

The defense of legislative immunity is not limited to city councilors and county commissioners. It also can be used by non-legislative officials acting in a legislative way. It may be used by planning and zoning board members and officials, school board members, and a variety of other officials involved in the creation of legislation or who act in a legislative manner.

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