City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play March 19, 2009

Can We Do Without Pay-to-Play?

In third world countries, corruption is said to grease the wheels of commerce. We don't like to believe that this is true in the U.S., and we certainly don't have to grease the palms of ordinary government employees in order to get any service. But what would happen if pay-to-play were truly brough…

March 12, 2009

False Presentation of an Ethics Ordinance - In Jackson County, MO, Of Course

Every time I check up on Jackson County, MO, I find something more that's shameful, if that word can be used anymore. This time a blog sent me to a You Tube video of the county legislature passing the new ethics ordinance, which I discussed in a blog entry earlier this week. Eight minutes of parlia…

Enforcement & Complaints March 12, 2009

Anonymous Complaints

Anonymous complaints are both important and problematic. Without anonymous tips and hotlines, our justice system would not work nearly as well as it does. With ethics programs, officials involved in unethical conduct often have great power in the community, and the people who know what they are doi…

Enforcement & Complaints March 11, 2009

Time Limits on Investigations

It's amazing how quickly a legislature can move when a bill is so embarrassing, the state's major newspaper calls it "Great for unethical public officials. Lousy for taxpayers." How quickly? Same day service. This just happened in Alabama, according to an article in yesterday's Birmingham News, a d…

Ethics Codes & Reform March 10, 2009

State-Mandated Ethics Reform and Political Culture

In many states without state enforcement of local government ethics, the compromise position pushed particularly by local government officials is to have the state mandate local ethics codes, but let local governments decide what's right for them. The motto of this position is, "One size does not f…

March 9, 2009

MILLER'S CROSSING

BY SUSAN COOPER EASTMAN February 3, 2009 This cover story is reproduced with permission from Folioweekly magazine See: www.folioweekly.com CARLA MILLER was appointed to reform Jacksonville’s ethics. The fact that she’s being squeezed out suggests she may be doing her job too well. When Mayor John P…

Conflicts of Interest March 9, 2009

A California Recipe for Conflicts of Interest

Update below (August 19, 2009) Here's a recipe for conflicts of interest. Create a new kind of county commission to hand out grant money. Require that commission members include representatives from public and private agencies that handle the very services the grants are intended for. Stir until fr…

Ethics Codes & Reform March 9, 2009

The State-Local Obstacle to Ethics Reform

One of the biggest obstacles to ethics reform in some U.S. states and Canadian provinces is the possibility of state enforcement of local ethics. For example, in Connecticut, there has been talk for years at the state level about either having state enforcement or state requirements. Even though it…

Enforcement & Complaints March 7, 2009

Legislators Fending Off Ethics Enforcement -- Who Needs Legislative Immunity?

Two months ago, I wrote a blog entry about the en masse resignation of the Jackson County (MO) ethics commission, and said that this was a sign that things were seriously wrong in that county. Little did I know. One thing I didn't know was the conflict that lies at the center of the commission's se…

Local Government Practice March 6, 2009

The Government Attorney and Zealousness

Lawyers are supposed to zealously represent their clients. After all, Canon 7 of the ABA Code of Professional Responsibility says, "A lawyer should represent a client zealously within the bounds of the law." This requirement applies as much to government lawyers as it does to private lawyers, right…

Subscribe to