City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Conflicts of Interest August 25, 2008

Stock Ownership by Local Officials and Conflicts of Interest

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has come up with a new defense of a potential conflict of interest: "I'm investing in something I believe in." What she was investing in, as "part of an entrepreneurial package," as she said on yesterday's Meet the Press, according to a partial transcript, was T. Boone Pi…

Ethics Codes & Reform August 22, 2008

Decriminalizing Ethics Codes

I'd like to follow up on what I said at the end of yesterday's blog entry, about jurisdictions that make ethics violations criminal and require a showing of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and a showing of intentionality or recklessness or negligence. Here is the penalty provision in the Arizona Co…

Conflicts of Interest August 21, 2008

Participating with a Conflict

A conflict controversy in Benson, Arizona shows how important participation can be where there is a conflict, even when an official does not vote. According to an article in the San Pedro Valley News-Sun, the mayor was in escrow to purchase property for which he was seeking to (and successfully did…

August 20, 2008

Local Election Officials and Accountability after HAVA

Local election officials have been put in a bind since the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) was passed by Congress in 2002. Federal and state requirements limit their control over voting processes, and there have been many problems with the companies that provide voting equipment and services. Besides …

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play August 19, 2008

Campaign Contributions by Those Doing Business with Local Governments

Campaign contributions are not generally considered to be bribes, but the perception of large campaign contributions from local government contractors is often that they are payments for contracts past or future, what is known in the government ethics business as "pay-to-play." For this reason, sta…

News & Commentary August 17, 2008

Success Stories

2006-06-21 New York Times Article: "At Ethics Camp, Not-So-Tall Tales From the Dark Side" 2006-06-21 Christian Science Monitor Article "Boot camp for city officials teaches 'a culture of ethics'" 2006-05-19 Providence RI-Letter from Providence City Council President "I am sure you already know w…

Conflicts of Interest August 12, 2008

Is Benefitting Constituents Representing Them or Benefitting Oneself?

Ted Stevens has been indicted for falsely reporting over $250,000 in services he received from an oil company that renovated his home. He denies the charges. Whether or not he's guilty of these charges, he is certainly guilty of a conflict of interest that plagues politicians at all levels of gover…

Transparency & Disclosure August 11, 2008

The Benefits of Interactive Local Government Information on the Internet

In a recent blog entry, I looked at how a couple of Connecticut towns are using the Internet to get citizen feedback and provide transparency. But some cities have gone much further, according to a syndicated column by Neal Peirce. Cities and their citizens are starting to make use of what is known…

Ethics Codes & Reform August 8, 2008

The Perception of Improper Ethics Reform

The passing of new ethics code provisions in Anoka, MN (pop. 18,000) provides a fine case study of how to try to pass off useless ethics code reform as something valuable. According to an article in the Anoka County Union, it appears the city council has a public confidence problem. The council's r…

Ethics Codes & Reform August 7, 2008

Truth-Telling

A lie to protect oneself or to mislead others in one's own interest is as bald a conflict of interest as there can be. But since it usually involves no money, and since it is hard to prove the difference between a lie and a mistake in knowledge or interpretation (which is why the word "lie" is neve…

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