Ethics Codes & Reform March 16, 2010

The Principal Goal of Government Ethics

I think it's important to remind ourselves about the alternative government and economic system that exists in much of the world (and partially in islands throughout the U.S.) and which government ethics programs are intended to protect us from. That system was described succinctly in an Economist article this week:  a system in which "existing institutions are just a device for the redistribution of property."
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March 16, 2010

Two Pleasant Surprises

The Partisanship of Ethics
The first pleasant surprise involves a blogger (Advance Indiana) who is disgusted with his own party's unethical conduct in his city/county, Indianapolis/Marion County. A native of Illinois, he compares it to Chicago, and he notes that his party took office because of the other party's unethical conduct. In this era of partisan blogging, it is nice to see recognition by a blogger of his own party's ethical problems.
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March 14, 2010

Louisville's Middling Ethics Reforms

Philadelphia, Baltimore, and now Louisville have come up with ethics reforms in the past week or so. Baltimore's reforms were disappointing, while Philadelphia's were a big surprise to everyone, and came with a few serious question marks. Louisville's reforms are hardly a surprise, and they stand somewhere between disappointing and true reform.
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Local Government Practice March 11, 2010

Holding Local Government Associations Accountable

Unions are paid for by union members, business associations are paid for by businesses, but local government associations are paid for by taxpayers, not by local governments. And yet while unions represent members, and business associations represent businesses, local government associations represent local governments. This setup is asking for trouble.
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Conflicts of Interest March 10, 2010

Voiding Contracts, Transactions, and Permits Where There Is an Ethics Violation

In my previous blog post, the issue arose of voiding a planning and zoning commission's approval of a permit because one of the commission members had a conflict of interest. Connecticut law automatically invalidates the commission action, without any individual or body having to act. But this is unusual. In fact, most jurisdictions do not expressly provide for the avoidance of permits, contracts, or other transactions.
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Conflicts of Interest March 10, 2010

Indirect Interests and Freedom of Speech

An unpublished Connecticut Superior Court opinion takes an odd approach to a conflict of interest charge against a member of a zoning commission in the small town of Pomfret (pop. 4,000). Not only is it odd, but it could very well be unconstitutional, as it partly bases its decision on whether individuals have spoken out for or against a matter before the zoning commission. My thanks go to Patricia Salkin, who wrote about the decision in her excellent Law of the Land blog and sent me a copy of the decision.
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