City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Local Government Practice March 29, 2009

Representation Without Taxation - A Local Government Example

Update: February 5, 2010 (see below)

Alaska and a small utility district in Texas. Who would have thought they could have anything in common. But they do: representation without taxation.

Conflicts of Interest March 28, 2009

The Ethics of Representation Without Taxation

We are told in school that one of the reasons the American Revolution happened is that colonists faced taxation without representation. This is just about as bad as it gets. But there is also such a thing as representation without taxation. How bad is that? What effect does it have on government and, more particularly, on government ethics?

Ethics Codes & Reform March 27, 2009

Local Government Attorneys - More or Fewer Ethics Rules?

Recently, the Jackson County (MO) county legislature decided to exclude not only county legislature members from its new ethics code, but also county attorneys. This exception is hidden square in the middle of a 58-page code:

This chapter applies to all public servants, as the term is defined in this chapter, except licensed attorneys at law acting in the course and scope of their duties as such, who are subject to the rules of professional conduct promulgated by the Supreme Court of Missouri.

Transparency & Disclosure March 26, 2009

Hiding Conflicts vs. Disclosing Them

Hiding a conflict of interest can lead to much worse problems than appearing before an ethics commission and getting your hand slapped, or even getting slapped with a fine. A criminal case in Winston-Salem, NC this week shows how bad things can get.

Conflicts of Interest March 25, 2009

Unethical Harassment and Wearing Logos

When I saw the headline from the Anchorage Daily News, "Palin Calls Blogger's Ethics Complaint Bogus," and saw that it had to do with clothing the governor wore, I thought I might write a piece about using ethics complaints for the purpose of political harassment. But when I read the article, I realized that the complaint was not frivolous, and that the governor's criticism of it was worthy of taking note. And there's even an issue here that local government officials could learn from.

Local Government Practice March 25, 2009

Legislative Immunity: The Constitutional Approach in R.I. and the Discipline Clause

I have treated the legislative immunity litigation in Rhode Island as the least relevant to other states and to local governments, because the ethics program was set up pursuant to a special constitutional convention. But an amicus brief filed this week by Common Cause of RI and the League of Women Voters of RI made me realize that a constitutional convention or, at the local level, a charter revision process, is a valuable alternative to consider for creating an independent ethics commission.

Conflicts of Interest March 24, 2009

The Responsibilities of a Local Government Official's Spouse

Ethics codes do not generally have rules about the involvement of spouses of government officials in citizen groups. But this can create serious appearance problems, as it has in St. Charles, Illinois, an hour west of Chicago, according to an article in yesterday's Chicago Tribune.

March 23, 2009

Two Ethics Developments in Texas

There are two interesting developments going on in Texas right now, and two bills that will be heard in committee today.

One involves a request to the state legislature by El Paso County to allow local governments to give their ethics commissions teeth (they now can only censure).

Ethics Commissions & Administration March 21, 2009

Common Errors Involving Ethics Commission Jurisdiction

I recently wrote about the problem of having a toothless ethics commission in a Connecticut city. According to an article in yesterday's Danbury News-Times, it's good that another Connecticut municipality's ethics commission is toothless.

Conflicts of Interest March 21, 2009

The Conflict at the Heart of the Local Election Process

Last October, I wrote a blog entry about why parties should fight elections, not referee them. An indictment this month in Kentucky emphasizes the need for the election process to be taken out of the hands of those contending for the results of that process.

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