Ethics Commissions & Administration February 25, 2010

What Can Ethics Officials Do Outside Their Jurisdiction?

New York City has had more problems with council earmarks than Washington, D.C. (see recent blog post on D.C.), and now the city's ombudsman has come up with a different approach, an approach from outside the council, in fact, from someone with no actual jurisdiction over the council. His plan shows that ethics officers or bodies can make a difference even where they have no actual jurisdiction.
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Conflicts of Interest February 24, 2010

Cronyism and Ethics

This month, in Portland, CT, home of the stone used to build New York City's brownstones, the new ethics commission found that it was a violation of the town's ethics code for the board of selectmen (the town's management board) to hire attorneys who had given campaign contributions to the board of selectmen majority's party town committee, according to the EC's minutes. The contributions of the particular attorneys were $20-250.
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February 23, 2010

Ethics Proceeding Confidentiality Takes a Hit in Utah, Logically Enough

Let me take a logical approach to the topic of government ethics proceeding confidentiality before I look at what has been happening in Utah this last week.

    Government ethics is intended to protect the public from officials acting in their own interest rather than in the public interest.

    Acting like this is considered unethical conduct.

    It is in the interest of officials to hide their unethical conduct from the public.

    It is in the public interest to know about officials' unethical conduct.

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February 19, 2010

Quote of the Day

(In a debate about a revolving door provision, also known as a "cooling off period")

"You do not take pizza from the oven and put it straight in your mouth. I believe that we should not take our legislative service and put it right in our own mouth."

—Missouri State Senator Jason Crowell (from an article in the Columbia Missourian). Unlike most of my Quotes of the Day, I found this one delightful.

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February 19, 2010

New Poll Results on Corporate and Union Independent Expenditures

It's worth noting two Washington Post-ABC News poll questions concerning the Citizens United decision on corporate-funded independent expenditures. Most notable is the fact that the reaction was roughly the same across the political spectrum. The ruling was opposed by 85% of Democrats polled, 76% of Republicans, and 81% of independents. These days, it's rare to have such a response on any important issue.
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February 18, 2010

Revolving Door or Merry-Go-Round?

Your big brother is a powerful member of city council, and you're just a deputy city clerk. There's got to be more than this! So you retire, take your pension of $68,000, and run for state representative, with all the support your brother and his friends can provide, adding another $86,000 in salary and the prospect of a second government pension. Not bad.
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