City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Transparency & Disclosure June 19, 2012

The Public Nature of Government Ethics Advice

There is a section of my new book Local Government Ethics Programs (click and scroll down to subsection 9) on the need for more transparency in the provision of ethics advice. What I just realized is that this is another government ethics topic on which Stephen Colbert, who has enlightened the U.S.

June 18, 2012

Loyalty and Plausible Deniability on the 40th Anniversary of Watergate

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the Watergate break-in. For those too young to remember, President Nixon's re-election campaign had people break in to the Democratic National Committee's offices in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.

Local Government Practice June 15, 2012

Doing What Isn't Required

Possibly the most important single thing in government ethics is the recognition that just because something isn't required, it doesn't mean you can't do it, and that just because something is not expressly prohibited, it doesn't mean you can do it. This is an expanded version of what I've often talked about: that, unlike most laws, ethics laws are minimum requirements.

Ethics Commissions & Administration June 14, 2012

Legislative Bodies Should Not Be Providing Ethics Waivers

Erosion of an ethics program can occur in many ways (see the section of my book on backsliding). In Louisiana (where the state ethics program has jurisdiction over local officials), there has been a great deal of erosion, regarding the ethics board's role in the ethics process, the standard of proof, and the exemption of state legislators to the extent they are involved in legislative activity.

Conflicts of Interest June 14, 2012

When An EC Member's Appointing Authority Comes Before the Commission

According to Courthouse News Service articles Tuesday and yesterday, former Georgia ethics commission executive secretary Stacey Kalberman and her deputy, Sherry Ellen Streicker, filed suits against the commission and its chair, Patrick Millsaps, for retaliating against their attempt to investigate then Governor Deal's alleged campaign finance violations by removing Streicker's position from the budget, seriously cutting Kalberma

Conflicts of Interest June 13, 2012

Participation in a Matter, and Seeking Ethics Advice

One of the things that always fascinates me is that, while politicians have no problem asking experts legal, financial, engineering, or human resource questions, they feel they know what they need to know about government ethics questions.

Enforcement & Complaints June 12, 2012

Outside Auditors and Local Government Ethics

Despite writing this blog for six years, I keep finding important areas of government ethics that I have not discussed. One such area involves dealing with the possible conflicts of outside auditors. Large cities and counties have internal auditors or comptrollers, but most local governments employ the services of external auditing firms, just as companies do. These auditors have special duties toward their clients, that is, to the community, not to the individuals who hire them and with whom they work. And yet these auditors owe their contracts to the individuals they work with.

June 11, 2012

A New Government Ethics Report from a New Florida Organization

In recent years, Florida's elected officials have shown a great deal of leadership in the field of unethical and criminal misconduct. The state has a weak state ethics commission, which has jurisdiction over local officials, and until recently only one good local government ethics program, in Miami/Dade County (Jacksonville and Palm Beach County joined this list with ethics reform last year). The major voices in government ethics in Florida have, sadly, been grand juries.

June 9, 2012

Summer Reading: Judith Shklar's "The Faces of Injustice"

I recently read Judith N. Shklar's book The Faces of Injustice (Yale U.P., 1990). This excellent essay about the difference between misfortune and injustice would not appear to have much to do with government ethics. But there turns out to be much relevant food for thought.

Conflicts of Interest June 6, 2012

Indirect Benefits, Expertise, and the Responsibility for Poor Ethics Advice

Update: June 20, 2012 (see below)

The saying goes that there are two sides to every story. But more commonly there is a story and ways to spin the story. The problem is telling them apart.

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