City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Ethics Commissions & Administration July 8, 2013

The Advantages of Having an IG Be Part of a Local Ethics Program

In New Orleans, it is the ethics board that selects the city's inspector general. According to an article in the July issue of New Orleans magazine, it took the city a long time to get an inspector general. The first time an IG's contract came up for renewal, the ethics board voted for it unanimous…

July 5, 2013

It's Time for Savannah to Declare Its Ethics Program's Independence

Update October 7, 2013 (see below) On Independence Day weekend, I like to focus on the independence of local government ethics programs. The public naturally trusts any ethics program that has not been selected by the officials under its jurisdiction. An EC that is not dependent on the appointment …

July 3, 2013

Suit Against Contractor Contribution Ban in Albuquerque

According to a New Mexico Telegram article, four Albuquerque contractors sued the city's ethics board, claiming that a 2007 charter provision banning contributions from contractors violates their free speech rights. Here's a link to the contractors' complaint. And here is the provision they are sui…

Conflicts of Interest July 2, 2013

Leing (sic) Down a Gift Law

In Hawaii, "Aloha" is not just a greeting. It also is a way of treating people, of thanking them. In other words, it often involves a gift. That explains the headline of a Honolulu Civil Beat article yesterday, "Can Too Much Aloha Be a Bad Thing? Ask Hawaii's Ethics Commission." As in so many state…

Ethics Commissions & Administration July 1, 2013

Attorneys on an EC, and Ethics Proceeding Confidentiality

Lawyers and confidentiality can both be serious obstacles to the effectiveness of a government ethics program. An ethics case in Trumbull, CT provides a good look at how this can happen. Attorneys on an Ethics Commission According to an article in the Trumbull Times last week and an article in the …

June 29, 2013

Ethics Reform IV - Allen County and Columbus, IN et al

Allen County, IN According to an article in the Journal Gazette, Allen County, IN, which includes Fort Wayne, amended its ethics ordinance after a complaint was brought against a member of the county council. It turned out that it wasn't clear whether the ethics ordinance even applied to elected of…

June 28, 2013

Current Ethics Reform III - Prince George's County, MD and Kenosha, WI

Prince George's County, MD Prince George's County had a big scandal involving the county executive back in 2010. The new county executive vowed to make serious ethics reform a priority, and did some valuable things in 2011, according to an article in the Washington Post. He created an ethics review…

June 28, 2013

Current Ethics Reform II - Phoenix

In June, the Phoenix council took a step toward ethics reform, based on the recommendations of a task force (I critiqued the task force recommendations in an April post entitled "Disappointing Report from Ethics Task Force in Phoenix"). What the council did was approve the mayor's ethics policies b…

June 27, 2013

Current Ethics Reform I - Orange County and Oakland, CA

Over the last few weeks, while I was putting the finishing touches on the second edition of the book Local Government Ethics Programs, there was a lot of action in the area of ethics reform. In the next few blog posts, I will summarize the action. Orange County, CA According to an article yesterday…

Ethics Commissions & Administration June 25, 2013

Voting For or Against Is Not the Question; Independence Is the Answer

Some people incorrectly believe that a conflict of interest requires an official not to vote in such a way as to benefit himself. That is, if the official might benefit from a vote, it's okay for him to vote against it, because that shows that the official is not seeking to benefit himself. What is…

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