City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Ethics Codes & Reform July 9, 2007

Whistle-Blowing and the Ante of Unethical Conduct

According to a May 24, 2007 New York Times editorial, the Commerce Department inspector general, charged with protecting whistle-blowers, took vengeance on two subordinates who questioned his expense accounts. He reassigned his top deputy and his counsel to peripheral jobs, when they refused to sig…

Local Government Practice July 4, 2007

How False Rumors Can Undermine a City's Ethical Environment

If you had no knowledge of government ethics, and you were asked what, on a day-to-day, moment-to-moment basis, was the most frequent form of unethical behavior in municipal government, you might say 'passing rumors along.' That's the meat and the potatoes of every organization's conversations, and…

Enforcement & Complaints June 24, 2007

The Lawyer Discipline System and Its Effects on Municipal Ethics

Today's New York Times Week in Review section features an article on local prosecutors and how their ethical misconduct is dealt with by the lawyer discipline system, the profession's disciplinary system. The case of the Duke lacrosse prosecutor, Michael B. Nifong, is, of course, the occasion for t…

Resources & Learning June 20, 2007

Logical Fallacies IV - Begging the Question and Appeals to Emotion

At first glance, these two logical fallacies don't seem to have much to do with each other. When you beg the question, you assume something has been established or proved, according to my trusty dictionary. The way a logician would define the begging the question fallacy is that the premises includ…

Resources & Learning June 19, 2007

The Best Continuing Ethics Education No Money Can Buy -- With Deterrence Thrown In

One great advantage of handling local government ethics matters at the state level is that decisions and advisory opinions can be easily and widely disseminated to all local governments in the state. This sort of publicity is good for several reasons. One, it provides precedents and guidance to loc…

June 18, 2007

Hartford "Political Boss" Makes the System Work for Him, Complete with Conflicts and Self-Help Contract Specs

Today's Hartford Courant gives us an excellent picture of a very creative way of making the municipal government work for you, conflicts of interest be damned. The municipal entrepreneur in this instance is Abraham L. Giles, referred to as a 'North End political boss.' His scheme involves vulnerabl…

Ethics Codes & Reform June 18, 2007

Where Ethics Provisions Should Appear and Not Appear

What happened recently in Colorado makes it clear that a state constitution is not the right place for ethics laws. Last November, an amendment to the state constitution was approved by voters, prohibiting state and local officials from accepting any gift of over $50 from any 'person.' The state At…

Ethics Codes & Reform May 2, 2007

Ethics Pledge for Boards & Commission Members

(Draft - personalize for your organization!) All board members and applicants shall agree to comply with the organization's ethics code and the ethical guidelines on conflicts adopted by the Board on______. Members of the board shall not discuss, advocate, or vote on any matter in which they have …

Conflicts of Interest May 2, 2007

Conflicts of Interest

Areas to check: Using office for private gain using organization resources for personal purposes soliciting gifts or accepting gifts from persons doing business with the organization seeking or accepting private compensation for doing one's work (gratuities) soliciting political contributions or po…

Ethics Codes & Reform May 2, 2007

EASY ETHICS GUIDELINES

How to use the Federal Sentencing Guidelines (FSG) to establish or strengthen ethics programs Purposes of the FSG: a) Prevent and detect criminal conduct and b) Promote an ethical culture The FSG require that an organization establish procedures to prevent bad conduct and that this is done in a wel…

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