There are many obstacles to local governments working together or merging in order to provide services at lower costs to taxpayers, but the one that is hardest to put a finger on is the self-interest of officials. Or at least that's how I read a new report from Wisconsin's Local Government Institute called A Roadmap for Government Transformation.

It's been four days since Sunshine Week ended, but it's not too late to point out Sunshine Review's first Sunny Awards, given to state and local governments whose websites meet the organization's transparency guidelines, which consider website information on budgets, meetings, elected and administrative officials, permits and zoning, audits, contracts, lobbying, public records,

Yesterday, my attention was drawn to a new organization called Foundation for Ethics in Public Service, Inc., which operates as the website www.reportpubliccorruption.org. On February 11, its executive director, Leslie W. Merritt, Jr., a former North Carolina state auditor, sent out a statement to newspapers across the country about state and federal ethics commissions.

Update: June 7, 2010 (see below)

Update: March 29, 2010 (see below)

It is a common problem in government ethics to confuse law and ethics. It is a more unusual problem to confuse law and facts. But this appears to be a problem in La Crosse (WI; pop. 51,000), according to an article in yesterday's La Crosse Tribune. But it's not the only problem.