While on the topic of ex parte communications, it's a good time to mention a very special ex parte communications provision, Miami-Dade County's renowned "code of silence" provision. It's also a good time because, according to an article in the Miami Herald, the provision was reconsidered earlier t…

One way to deal with possible conflicts is to nip them in the bud by not allowing any personal communications between officials and interested parties ("ex parte communications"). All communications must be official, either documentary or at formal meetings or negotiations. According to an article …

What stronger personal interest is there than family relationships? And yet so many people don't get the problems nepotism in government poses, at least until it takes a chunk out of their wallets. Take an article in today's New York Times Week in Review section. In looking at the stew going on ove…

I've written a few times about the ways local government officials misuse charitable organizations (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). But there are still charities-related issues I've missed. At a session at the recent Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL) conference on loopholes in and end runs around campaig…