City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Ethics Commissions & Administration July 16, 2009

Elected Officials and Ethics Commissions -- What Tension Between Them Can Lead To

What just happened in San Diego, according to an article in yesterday's Union-Tribune, is a lesson for local government ethics commission members, especially commission chairs, and even more especially chairs who speak out. Most important, it points out how important EC independence is.

July 16, 2009

Quebec Report Recommends Ethics Codes for All Local Governments; North Carolina Might Soon Be Requiring Codes, Too

Last week, I wrote about municipal corruption scandals in Montreal. This week, I'm happy to be able to write about a report requested by the province of Quebec, which determined that the province's municipalities should all have a code of ethics (only about 10% do now), that the largest cities and the counties should have ethics commissioners, and that financial disclosure and ethics training should be required. Contractors would be covered under the codes.

Conflicts of Interest July 15, 2009

Political Solicitation of Local Government Employees

See update below:
An issue that arises in many local governments involves campaign contributions from local government employees, which often appear to be coerced or required, that is, they appear to result from a misuse of office by elected officials. Often, it appears that the giving occurs because employees are concerned about keeping their jobs. This concern includes concern about retaliation as well as concern about what will happen if the candidate loses.

Ethics Commissions & Administration July 14, 2009

Restrictions on Ethics Commission Membership

In yesterday's miscellany, I talked about an ethics commission member conflicted due to having played a role in the campaign of an official brought before the commission. There are two ways to deal with such a conflict. One is to deal with it like any conflict, when it arises. The other is to prevent the conflict from occurring.

Normally, the right way to handle conflicts is the first way, when they arise. Conflicts are common, and dealing with them responsibly is central to government ethics.

July 13, 2009

A Miscellany

Ethics Reform and Ethics Environments

July 13, 2009

A Problematic Baltimore Legislative Immunity Decision

Update - July 31, 2009 - see below

Local Government Practice July 11, 2009

Should a Local Government Attorney Represent Both the Executive and Legislative Branches?

As I have noted again and again, there is no more difficult, conflicted role than that of a local government attorney. In small towns, there's not a lot that can be done. But in cities and counties, there are several things that can be done to lessen the local government attorney's conflicts.

July 10, 2009

Montreal Investigations -- Anything But Dull

We here in the U.S. like to think of Canadians as like us, but better. More honest, less greedy, more accepting of diversity, etc. And they pay for it by being dull.

Conflicts of Interest July 9, 2009

Improperly Invoking Conflicts in an Election Context

I don't like seeing conflicts of interest discussed improperly in the context of an election. Elections are a good time to educate the public about issues, but when government ethics is used for partisan purposes, it undermines both the public's understanding and their trust in elected officials.

Local Government Practice July 8, 2009

Local Government Attorney Ethics Advice

A judicial opinion is apparently not enough to put an end to local government officials using the excuse that the local government attorney told them participation in a matter is legal.

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