City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

March 5, 2014

The Good and Bad of Palm Beach County's EC Selection Process

The independent selection of EC members is a great thing for making a government ethics program appear independent of those under its jurisdiction and for ensuring that an ethics commission remains fully stocked with members. But how this selection process is actually accomplished matters, too.

Ethics Commissions & Administration March 3, 2014

Arguments Against Centralized Ethics Advice Argue for It

A month ago, I wrote a blog post about the Broward County (FL) inspector general's recommendations for ethics reform. A principal recommendation was to require all local officials, who are under the county ethics program's jurisdiction, to seek ethics advice from an ethics officer rather than from their city attorneys.

Ethics Commissions & Administration February 28, 2014

EC Jurisdiction Over Those Who Govern

I'm currently reading a classic political science book about urban politics, Who Governs? by Robert Dahl. Who governs? is a question that is not asked often enough in local government ethics. It is not enough for an ethics program to have jurisdiction over officials and employees. It needs to have jurisdiction over those who actually govern the community, no matter what their position.

February 28, 2014

How to Make Colorado's Ethics Program More Functional

Colorado has an extremely dysfunctional ethics program, everyone is complaining about it, but approaches to fixing it are sometimes just as dysfunctional.

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play February 27, 2014

Local Government Lobbyists, Prohibitions on Use of Funds, and Campaign Contributions

Recently, the hiring of lobbyists to represent cities before state and federal governments and agencies has become controversial. Some people think this is an inappropriate use of taxpayer funds. I don't agree. However, the hiring of external lobbyists (as opposed to government officials who do the lobbying themselves) does raise some government ethics issues, because it adds to the mix highly politicized contractors.

February 26, 2014

D.C. Council Inappropriately Overrides EC Advisory Opinion

Last November, I wrote a long blog post examining an important general advisory opinion from the District of Columbia's ethics commission on the subject of constituent services.

Enforcement & Complaints February 25, 2014

Non-Substantive Considerations for Dismissing Ethics Complaints

Why is it so hard for officials, personally or in drafting ethics codes, to let an ethics commission do its work, dismissing complaints that lack validity (i.e., that do not state an ethics violation by someone under the ethics program's jurisdiction or for which there is insufficient evidence)? Why, instead, do they create and take advantage of non-substantive considerations for dismissal of complaints in order to take revenge on complainants?

February 24, 2014

Discussing Ethics Reform Behind Closed Doors in Luzerne County, PA

According to an editorial yesterday in the Luzerne County (PA) Citizens Voice, the Luzerne County council, on advice of the county attorney, is planning to hold an executive session tomorrow to discuss changes to its ethics code. The editorial says it would be wrong to hold an executive session.

February 22, 2014

A Miscellany

City Attorney Ethics Enforcement in San Francisco

Ethics Codes & Reform February 21, 2014

Seattle's Newly Expanded Whistleblower Protection Code

This week, Seattle's expanded Whistleblower Protection Code became effective (attached; see below). As what appears to be the most extensive local whistleblower code, it deserves a look from any local government seeking to draft or improve whistleblower provisions.

The major changes to the code, according to the ethics commission's (SEEC) website, are:

Employees who report wrongdoing to their supervisor or other person in their chain of command will now be protected from retaliation.

The SEEC will now investigate allegations of retaliation.

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