City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Conflicts of Interest May 4, 2010

When Voting Is Damaging, No Matter What the Ethics Code Says

According to an article in yesterday's Morning Journal, the Law Director of Lorain, OH (a city of 70,000), advising a council member, said, “If his employer had a direct financial interest, he would have a conflict. But it does not.” A council member who was vice president of a regional firefighter…

Local Government Practice May 3, 2010

Legal Ethics vs. Government Ethics

Many government lawyers feel that the rules of professional conduct are sufficient to keep them ethical. Because of this, they sometimes seek to be excluded from an ethics commission's jurisdiction (see a recent blog post) and more often argue that the attorney discipline system takes precedence. A…

Conflicts of Interest May 1, 2010

Conflicts Involving Reputation and Government Positions

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. (a) Prohibition. No officer or employee of the City and…

Ethics Codes & Reform April 30, 2010

NY State Comptroller Reports on Local Government Ethics and Provides a Model Code

New York State's new comptroller (see an earlier blog post about the prior comptroller's ethical problems) has recently produced a report based on an audit of 31 New York local governments and a survey of many more (see the press release for an overview). The 26-page report is entitled Ethics Overs…

Conflicts of Interest April 29, 2010

Elected Officials and No-Bid or Improperly Bid Contracts: Two Case Studies

A no-bid or improperly bid contract cannot help but create an appearance of impropriety. And yet not only do elected officials keep defending them, but they also refuse to acknowledge the appearance of impropriety that surrounds every one of them, especially when elected officials and their family …

Ethics Commissions & Administration April 28, 2010

Advice on Advisory Opinions

Again and again, local government officials say that there is no need for an improved ethics program in their town because no one is filing complaints. If there were ethical problems, they argue, there would be lots of complaints. But complaints are not an indication of the need for a better govern…

Conflicts of Interest April 27, 2010

Lawyer Exceptions and Preferential Treatment

According to an editorial in the Press Democrat, the city council in Santa Rosa (CA), a city of about 150,000 north of San Francisco, has postponed consideration of an ordinance requiring city lobbyists to register, supposedly due to complaints from nonprofits who do not want to pay the $120 fee. (…

April 26, 2010

Signs of the Times

(illustration from illegalsigns.ca, Toronto) I haven't mentioned billboard companies in my blog. It's about time. Billboard companies can be a serious source of apparent impropriety and corruption in local government. And this is an important time for them, because things are changing in the billbo…

April 24, 2010

A Circuit Judge in Chicago Gets the Government Attorney-Client Privilege Wrong

A city creates the position of inspector general in order to root out, and hopefully prevent, corruption. The inspector general decides to investigate a situation. A city attorney is involved. The attorney-client privilege is invoked. The investigation is blocked. And the word goes out: if you wan…

Ethics Codes & Reform April 23, 2010

"Interest" vs. "Benefit"

In my most recent blog post, I pointed out how vague the concept of an "interest" is for most people. I would like to discuss this problem further, because I think it is the cause of much misunderstanding, as well as weaknesses in ethics code drafting. Ethics codes are essentially conflict of inter…

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