Skip to main content
CityEthics Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Main navigation

    • Conflicts of Interest
    • Ethics Codes & Reform
    • Ethics Commissions & Administration
    • Local Government Practice
    • Enforcement & Complaints
    • Transparency & Disclosure
    • Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play
    • Resources & Learning
    • News & Commentary
    • Resources Overview
    • City Ethics Essentials
    • Working Definitions
    • Top Ten Ethics Films
    • Books of Interest
    • Safra Working Papers
    • About City Ethics
    • Carla Miller
    • Robert Wechsler
    • Don McClintock

Conflicts of Interest February 17, 2010

The Conflicts of Boards Acting in a Quasi-Judicial Manner

One thing I have scarcely mentioned in my blog are ethical rules related to a local board or commission when it is acting in a quasi-judicial manner. I mentioned the common-law conflicts in such circumstances in a recent blog post, as well as the absolute immunity given to the Philadelphia ethics b…
Read more →
February 16, 2010

Don't Take Anything For Granted

The Grants of a Conflicted Board of Insiders Sometimes conflicts can cause a city or county serious problems with such things as state and federal grants. This is what has happened in Brockton, MA (pop. 94,000), according to an article in the Enterprise-News. The board of the city's redevelopment o…
Read more →
Local Government Practice February 16, 2010

Defending Officials: Misuse of Office and Who the Client Is

Misuse of government resources, nepotism, transparency, and the obligations of government attorneys are all issues in litigation over a village's secret use of a contaminated well for 20% of the village's water supply, according to an article in Sunday's Chicago Tribune. Here a few questions that a…
Read more →
Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play February 14, 2010

Hunting for a Clever Pay-to-Play Scheme?

I don't usually use examples from Congress, but this one is too good, and instructive. According to yesterday's New York Times, Billy Tauzin, when he was a Louisiana congressional representative, started two hunting clubs, whose memberships included primarily lobbyists and executives of companies w…
Read more →
Conflicts of Interest February 12, 2010

How to Deal Responsibly With a Conflict That Falls Between City and State Ethics Codes

Some situations clearly involve a conflict of interest, but are not dealt with in a local government ethics code. Two issues arise. One is the quality of the local government ethics code. The other is whether the code matters at all, if the conflict is clear. Such a situation exists with respect to…
Read more →
Ethics Codes & Reform February 11, 2010

Time and the Drafting of Conflict of Interest Provisions

Time is a very important element of conflicts of interest. Some conflicts simply exist, but others either occur suddenly or suddenly become relevant. For example, an official can have a piece of property for twenty years and then suddenly the owner of a neighboring piece of property asks the local …
Read more →
February 10, 2010

New York City Council Member Indicted for Misuse of Slush Fund, But He Was Enabled by Many Other Officials

It's been almost two years since the New York Times broke the story on the abuses of New York City council earmarks slush fund, which totaled about $50 million a year. This week, the council member featured in the Times article was expelled from the state senate for a violent act committed against …
Read more →
Transparency & Disclosure February 9, 2010

Attorney-Client Privilege and Financial Disclosure: A New NYC Bar Association Report

Some lawyers abuse or misrepresent the lawyer-client privilege and client confidentiality to protect their own unethical conduct. But no one does it better than elected government officials who also happen to be lawyers, and have the ability to draft ethics laws. A report by the New York City Bar A…
Read more →
February 6, 2010

A Columnist Gets Government Ethics, A Former Mayor Doesn't

(Update: March 1, 2010: Also see this excellent Times-Union editorial on the importance of an independent ethics commission that has authority over independent authorities. A particularly valuable observation: "The city Ethics Commission needs the ability to obtain independent legal advice. The cit…
Read more →
Local Government Practice February 5, 2010

The Perfect Justification for Unethical Conduct

Almost three years ago, I wrote a blog post about the scandal that rocked my town, North Haven, CT. Since then, one of the two arrested department heads, the finance director, was given accelerated rehabilitation (lenient probation) because he turned state's evidence. The other department head, and…
Read more →
  • ← Previous
  • 1
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • Next →
Subscribe to

Search

User account menu

  • Log in
CityEthics
Local government ethics, explored
© 2026 CityEthics.org