City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Ethics Commissions & Administration October 16, 2013

The Need for Institutional Checks on Mishandling Conflicts

Six years ago, I wrote a blog post on apology (including full disclosure) in the medical context. Today's New York Times' "Invitation to a Dialogue" letter from a hospital executive takes this issue a step further to a consideration of the value of individual punishment vs. institutional change. Th…

October 15, 2013

No Enforcement Against the Complicit in a California Case

Court decisions, especially when combined with criminal enforcement of ethics violations, can be very harmful to local government ethics. The court in a Monterey County case involving a serious §1090 conflict of interest matter that officials were not only aware of, but appear to have helped create…

October 14, 2013

A Miscellany

Who Should Oversee Nepotism Rules? According to an article in the Stamford (CT) Advocate last week, Stamford's Board of Representatives voted to amend an anti-nepotism bill to instead require the city's human resources director to draft a nepotism policy. The sponsor of the amendment was quoted as …

October 11, 2013

The Poor State of Local Government Ethics in the Albany Area

An investigative article in Sunday's Albany Times-Union looks at the local government ethics programs in 78 local governments in four New York counties. What it found is sadly typical in most states. What it found was that at least 30 of the governments had not updated their ethics laws since the e…

Conflicts of Interest October 10, 2013

California's Contract-Oriented Conflict of Interest Provision

Yesterday's blog post discussed the law giving California's Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) authority over §1090 of the state code, which deals with contract-related conflicts of interest and applies to both local and state officials. Knowing little about this section, which stands outsi…

October 9, 2013

Increased EC Authority and Access to Annual Disclosure in California

Some good news from California, which takes an odd, hybrid approach to local government ethics. It has a state ethics commission (the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC)) that has limited authority over local officials in the areas of conflicts of interest and campaign finance. And the state…

Local Government Practice October 8, 2013

Officials' and Lawyers' Obligations Relating to Citizen Participation

Yesterday evening, I attended a meeting of my town's planning and zoning commission. The principal agenda item involved a request for an amendment to the town plan to allow the building of a private recycling center in the town. The commission's secretary read a letter from the requesting party's a…

October 7, 2013

Ethical Governance Day in Miami-Dade County

The Miami-Dade County ethics commission has been a leader in reaching out to the community. In 2011, it co-sponsored a local government ethics conference, which attracted people from all over Florida. In 2012, it organized the first Ethical Governance Day, according to an op-ed in the Miami Herald …

Conflicts of Interest October 3, 2013

Furloughed Employees Are Still Subject to Ethics Laws

According to an article in the Washington Post this week, the federal Office of Government Ethics has reminded agencies to tell their furloughed employees that "they remain employees of the Federal Government during furlough periods . . . It is particularly important for employees to understand tha…

October 2, 2013

Shaking Down or Institutional Corruption?

There is a fact of life that is very hard for many local elected officials to admit: most of the campaign contributions given to incumbents and serious challengers come from two sources: those seeking special benefits from the government and those who work for the government (and their unions). I…

Subscribe to