City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Ethics Codes & Reform January 22, 2014

The Effects of Ethics Reform in Louisiana

One of the biggest problems in government ethics is determining whether ethics reforms "work." A well written article in the Advocate looked at Louisiana's ethics enforcement since the reforms instituted by Gov. Jindal became applicable in 2009. Louisiana's ethics program has jurisdiction over local officials.

Enforcement & Complaints January 21, 2014

Multiple Signatures on an Ethics Complaint

Who should be allowed to file an ethics complaint? Certainly any citizen of the jurisdiction. But what about multiple citizens of the jurisdiction? Should an ethics commission exclude a complaint from them?

Ethics Commissions & Administration January 20, 2014

Ethics Commission As Mediator

Here's a new role for an ethics commission: mediator in a dispute between other government oversight offices. According to an article in the Advocate last week, New Orleans' ethics board has appointed two of its members to mediate in an ongoing dispute between the city's Inspector General and its new Independent Police Monitor.

Conflicts of Interest January 18, 2014

Lobbyists for Local Governments

Over the last few decades, governments have privatized many of their functions. One function that governments have begun privatizing in recent years is lobbying higher-level governments. Since every government is at a higher level than a local government (think not just regional, state, and federal, but numerous agencies at each of these levels), local government has the most lobbying to do.

Transparency & Disclosure January 16, 2014

Lobbying Laws Are Lacking in Florida Independent Special Districts

Update: January 22, 2014 (see below)

Resources & Learning January 16, 2014

Winter Reading: The Ethics of Lobbying

In preparation for the chapter on lobbying that I'm working on, I just finished reading a 2002 book entitled The Ethics of Lobbying from the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University (Georgetown UP). It's an excellent introduction to a number of issues involved in lobbying of the federal government, most of which are relevant at the local level, as well.

Local Government Practice January 15, 2014

Prestige of Office Provisions

Some jurisdictions have an ethics provision entitled Prestige of Office that, among other things, limits work that officials can do outside of government. Here is the language that the Baltimore school district uses (this is essentially the same as the city government's Prestige of Office provision, but with the addition of the phrase "public position," which turns it into a basic misuse of office provision):

An official may not intentionally use the prestige of office or public position for the private gain of that official or the private gain of another.

It's certa

Enforcement & Complaints January 14, 2014

An Inadequate Ethics Settlement in Dade County, FL

Settlements of ethics proceedings are usually a good thing for everyone involved. They save officials the cost of a proceeding and prevent officials from digging themselves deeper and deeper into defenses, denials, and cover-ups, which are usually more harmful to the public trust than any ethics violation. They save taxpayers the cost of a proceeding and of possible appeals. They save the community the pain of going through an extended fight over an ethics violation, which can hurt its reputation, escalate, and have long-term ramifications.

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play January 13, 2014

Vote Buying, A Different Sort of Gift

An interesting article in today's New York Times focuses on an unusual feature of an unhealthy local government ethics environment. This feature is payment for votes, something we think of in terms of old city machines. In this case, it involved school board elections in Donna, TX, a town of 16,000. The FBI, rather than local prosecutors, made the arrests.

Enforcement & Complaints January 12, 2014

A Thought Experiment with Loyalty

I've been thinking about what I wrote in yesterday's blog post with respect to sanctioning police officers who knew about the disability scam but said nothing. The principal cause for this, besides each individual's self-interest, was a common uniformed department's conspiracy of silence, a loyalty to colleagues that takes precedence over loyalty to the community.

Subscribe to