City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Ethics Codes & Reform December 16, 2008

The Virtuous Circle of Ethics Laws and Legislative Immunity -- And the Legislators Who Stand Outside of It

Back in June, in the middle of a long blog entry on legislative immunity, I referred to the virtuous circle that includes both ethics laws and the Speech or Debate Clause, which provides legislators immunity from interference from the executive and judicial branches. I would like to focus on this virtuous circle, and explain it further, because I think it might be the most important argument in support of continued independent ethics jurisdiction over legislators at every level of government.

Local Government Practice December 15, 2008

Co-Opting Subordinates Through Ordering Unethical Conduct

Last week, the Kansas City, MO city council ordered an investigation into possibly unethical conduct by the city's mayor, according to an article in the Kansas City Star. The principal conduct is the use of the mayor's former communications director to work on a political campaign (not the mayor's re-election campaign).

December 15, 2008

Rhode Island Legislative Immunity Brief

I just obtained the Rhode Island Ethics Commission's memorandum in support of its jurisdiction over legislators, which was contested by the former state senate president William V. Irons, as discussed in an earlier blog entry. The argument of the EC's brief is not typical, because the ethics commission and code were created pursuant to a 1986 constitutional amendment.

December 13, 2008

California Limits Local Government Officials' Access to Free Tickets

Sports and other event tickets are a constant issue in local government ethics. Yes, mayors are often expected to attend major events, but who else is? Why should city ownership of a facility matter in handing out tickets? The ownership is not the officials' or employees', but the citizens'.

December 13, 2008

Blagojevich's Realtor Wife and Lobbyist Tipper

I was in Chicago for the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws annual conference for a week, which is why I haven't been blogging lately. I was there when Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested, so the arrest and the tales of selling a Senate seat and blackmailing the Chicago Tribune are old news now. But there are a couple of interesting facts about the situation which have been largely ignored.

Ethics Codes & Reform December 5, 2008

City Ethics Essentials

Cities across the United States are creating and expanding Ethics Commissions, Ethics Offices and Inspector Generals in order to fight corruption and establish higher ethical standards for their governments. I will be posting some of the best ideas from these programs on this site. If you have comments on what is written, good, bad or just a stray idea, please comment! Carla Miller, president, City Ethics.

The first BEST PRACTICE entry is "Ethics Program Essentials". These are key points to consider when starting an ethics program.

Resources & Learning December 5, 2008

Working Definitions

It is useful to establish some working definitions for the key words that we need to be using in addressing ethical issues. Here are some workable definitions for these terms:

TRUST

Is a relationship of reliance. A trusted party seeks to fulfill policies, ethical codes, law and their previous promises. Trust does not need to involve belief in the good character or morals of the other party. Persons engaged in a criminal activity usually trust each other to some extent.

December 1, 2008

Birmingham Mayor/Former Jefferson County Executive Arrested -- Gifts Central

Type the word "ethics" into the Birmingham, AL website search box and nothing comes up. Nor can you find the city's ordinances. Mayor Larry Langford bills himself as a great reformer, but he certainly hasn't done anything to reform the city's ethics laws, or at least to let anyone know about them. In fact, according to the City Ethics site, the ethics ordinance and board used to be on the city website, but the links no longer work.

Conflicts of Interest December 1, 2008

The Gifts Dilemma

There are two principal ways of dealing with gifts to government officials and employees, and both of them are unsatisfactory, although certainly better than ignoring them completely. One approach is prohibition, the other disclosure.

Conflicts of Interest November 30, 2008

Correcting a Conflict After It Becomes an Issue

In Saybrook, IL, two members of both a sportman's club and a village board of trustees resigned their sportman's club membership so they would have no conflict voting on annexation of the club by the village. According to a letter to the editor of the Bloomington Pantagraph, the two members reserved their right to rejoin the club after the annexation issue was dealt with. Does resigning like this negate any conflict of interest?

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