City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Ethics Codes & Reform January 16, 2009

Self-Serving Ethics

See update below Ethics is popular in Illinois right now, so popular that two mayoral candidates in the Village of Niles, a northwest suburb of Chicago (pop. 30,000), are putting it at the center of their campaigns. But it's not ethics as most of us like to think of it. This love of ethics doesn't …

January 15, 2009

A D.C. Loan Officer's Possible Conflicts of Interest

Are loans to businesses that do business with a city sufficient to create a conflict of interest? This is the question that has been batted around recently in Washington, D.C., according to an article in today's Washington Post. A bank vice president is chair of a board that oversees D.C.'s charter…

January 14, 2009

New Year's Resolutions in Jacksonville

The new year is a good time for ethics commissions and officers to look ahead to 2009 and set goals and priorities. According to an article in today's Jacksonville Daily Record, this is exactly what the Jacksonville (FL) ethics commission did at its first meeting of the new year. As did the city's …

Conflicts of Interest January 14, 2009

Special Districts - Conflicted But Invisible

Special districts are an important and growing form of local government, and yet they often fly beneath the radar. In fact, I've only mentioned them once in my blog. And most citizens have no idea what they are or that they exist in their area (I myself can't name one in my area). For this reason, …

January 13, 2009

Transition Team Conflicts in Sacramento

Sacramento recently had an interesting situation, which set off accusations of conflicts of interest. According to an article in the Sacramento Bee, the newly-elected weak mayor came into office with a volunteer transition team, consisting primarily of people who have business with the city or repr…

Conflicts of Interest January 12, 2009

Narrow and Vague Ethics Code Definitions of "Doing Business"

The Baltimore mayor's attorney has, only days after his client was indicted, given a course to drafters of local government ethics codes on how not to define "doing business" with a local government. The mayor's attorney, in a press conference, pointed out that Section 2-5 of the Baltimore Ethics C…

January 12, 2009

A County Ethics Commission Resigns En Masse

When the entire ethics commission of a major county resigns, something is seriously wrong. This is what recently happened in Jackson County, MO, home of Kansas City and Independence. According to an article in Tuesday's Kansas City Star, most of the resignations occurred because the county legislat…

January 11, 2009

Nevada Commission on Ethics Appeals Ruling re Its Jurisdiction Over State Legislators

According to an article in yesterday's Nevada Appeal, the Nevada Commission on Ethics has appealed the district court decision which removed its jurisdiction over state legislators participating in legislative conduct. The Commission believes that the legislature waived its sole power to punish its…

January 8, 2009

Not One Little Job, But the Whole Works

“There’s no conflict,” the mayor said last night. “It wouldn’t be a story if his name wasn’t Menino.” (from a recent Boston Herald article) This is Boston's mayor, Thomas M. Menino, speaking about his son's year-old job for a construction company that has done a great deal of business with the city…

Conflicts of Interest January 7, 2009

Local Government Attorneys - Criminal Defense and Labor Case Conflicts?

The status of a local government attorney is important. An external local government attorney, that is, one not employed full-time by the government, is still seen as the top legal official in town, someone whose word is effectively law, especially at government meetings. Such an attorney is also s…

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