City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Conflicts of Interest July 3, 2008

Local Government Consultants and Conflicts - New York Lawyers and Their Pensions

According to a New York Times article last week, hundreds of lawyers in New York State who have done consulting work for local school districts allowed themselves to be listed as part-time employees and allowed themselves to be enrolled in the school districts' pension systems.

Conflicts of Interest July 1, 2008

Who Is a Local Government Attorney's Client? -- A Conflict of Interest Question

Last week, the New York Times reported that for six months the White House refused to open an e-mail from the Environmental Protection Agency, a report stating that greenhouse gases are pollutants that must be controlled. The White House considered the EPA report to be in some sort of "e-mail limbo," without official status. So nothing had to be done about it.

Transparency & Disclosure June 30, 2008

A Couple of Good Local Government Approaches to Transparency and Citizen Feedback

The Internet provides all sorts of opportunities for both transparency and citizen feedback. One way, which I pointed out recently, is for local government officials to have blogs that allow them to present their news and views, and allow citizens to respond and ask questions.

Two other approaches have just been taken by towns near where I live.

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June 25, 2008

Favoring Friends and Family Catches Up to Baltimore's Mayor

Two years after allegations made by the Baltimore Sun, two years after state prosecutors began an investigation, a year and a half after being appointed mayor (after being city council president), and six months after being elected mayor, Baltimore's Sheila Dixon's alleged favoring of friends and family has been brought before a grand jury, according to an article in today's Sun.

Ethics Commissions & Administration June 25, 2008

Starving Ethics Commissions of Resources - The Situation in Oklahoma

Money is not only the root of much of the evil in government ethics, it is also the lifeblood of government ethics. Without money, ethics commissions, at least in cities and states, as opposed to towns, cannot do their job.

Do something the legislative body doesn't like and it has a good way to get back at you: cut off your funds or fail to fund your new obligations. At budget time, government ethics commissions, no matter how independent, often become just another political football.

Enforcement & Complaints June 24, 2008

Superior Handling of a Conflict Matter

Too many of my blog entries look at instances where things did not go right. One reason is that when things do go right, no one talks about them. Another reason is that so often ethics problems are not handled very well.

So it's nice to read about the proper handling of a conflict situation in Superior, Wisconsin. I suppose when you live in a town with this name, your aspirations are greater than most cities'.

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Conflicts of Interest June 23, 2008

The Special Responsibilities of Prosecutors -- and Other Local Government Attorneys

An article on the front page of today's New York Times presents us with an opportunity to focus on the special ethical responsibilities of prosecutors, and other local government attorneys.

Enforcement & Complaints June 22, 2008

Acknowledging Ethics Violations in Settlements

Should an agreement between an ethics commission and a respondent, which ends an ethics proceeding, include an acknowledgment by the respondent that he violated the ethics law?

According to an article in yesterday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee thinks not. The Arkansas Ethics Commission director disagrees.

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Conflicts of Interest June 20, 2008

Registrars of Voters and Their Conflicts

If you were going to set up a local election system devoted to fairness and to voters, how would you have registrars of voters selected? Would you have them appointed or elected? Would you have them be party members or nonpartisan?

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Ethics Codes & Reform June 18, 2008

The Benefits of Hyperlinking Ethics Codes, and the Dependency of Children

According to an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer, a county commissioner in Ohio voted on a contract that went to her non-dependent son, and she is being investigated by the Ohio Ethics Commission.

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