May 8, 2012

My Book Is Finally Available (and it's free)



The book I've been working on for what seems like ages is finally available! With the exciting title Local Government Ethics Programs, this is the first comprehensive resource book on the subject. The subtitle subtly hints at the audience for this book:  A Resource for Ethics Commission Members, Ethics Reformers, Local Officials, Attorneys, Journalists, and Students. But I think ethics commission staff members will enjoy the book the most.
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Ethics Commissions & Administration April 25, 2012

A County Ethics Program Run by a Non-Independent Ombudsman

Although in 2008, Orange County, Florida's Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform Task Force recommended (report attached; see below) that the county have an ethics board selected by a variety of community organizations, following the model of Miami/Dade County, and Section 2-457 of the county ordinances did provide for (with liberal use of the magic word "may") an ethics advisory board to be selected by the chief judge of the local circuit, Orange County does not appear to have an ethics board.
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Conflicts of Interest April 25, 2012

Theories of a Legislator's Role That Lie Beneath Definitions of Corruption

University of Maryland Law School professor Deborah Hellman recently put the draft of her law review article, "Defining Corruption and Constitutionalizing Democracy" (forth. Mich. L. Rev (Vol. 111)), on SSRN. The core argument of her paper is that defining legislative corruption requires a theory of the legislator's role in a democracy. Hellman sets out three such theories, and I add a fourth.
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Transparency & Disclosure April 24, 2012

Misrepresentations Regarding Disclosure

This week, a citizen in the village of Niles, IL (pop. 30,000) made a proposal for applicant disclosure, something every ethics program should have, but most do not. According to an article in yesterday's Niles Herald-Spectator, the proposal "would ask if the applicant’s officers, directors or partners are related by blood or marriage or reside in the same residence as any Niles elected official, appointed official [or] village employee.
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