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Ethics Codes & Reform May 9, 2012

How Not To Accomplish Ethics Reform

Here are three instances of ethics reform that, I hope, would not happen if someone involved had read the chapter on ethics reform in my Local Government Ethics Program book.

Copying a Local Town's Code
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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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Resources & Learning May 4, 2012

Second Edition of Free Resource Book on Local Government Ethics


Local Government Ethics Programs 2.0:

A Resource for Ethics Commission Members, Local Officials,
Attorneys, Journalists, and Students,
And a Manual for Ethics Reform

by Robert Wechsler, Director of Research-Retired at City Ethics

The second edition of this comprehensive book about local
government ethics programs. And it's free!


This book is intended for multiple purposes:

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May 1, 2012

Chicago Ethics Task Force Files First Report

The Chicago Ethics Reform Task Force report was published yesterday. Well, at least Part 1 was published. As I said in my blog post about the announcement of the task force's creation, "four months, including the holiday season, is a short time for four people and their likely inexperienced lawyers to deal with a huge city's ethics program."
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Enforcement & Complaints April 27, 2012

The Going Rate, Statutes of Limitations, and Spousal-Dealing

A few issues arise in the case of a Pennsylvania state senator who reached a settlement this week with the state's ethics commission that included a fine of $21,000, according to an article in yesterday's Montgomery County Times Herald.
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Resources & Learning April 26, 2012

Government Ethics in a Nutshell

Well worth reading, as a encapsulated version of what is essential to a local government ethics program, is the statement of Mark Davies, executive director of the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board, gave to the Chicago Ethics Reform Task Force, which will soon be making recommendatio
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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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April 22, 2012

What We Can Learn from Walmart's Extensive Bribery in Mexico

Today, the New York Times ran a length investigatory report on Walmart's extensive bribery of local Mexican officials intended to rush through permits and zoning approvals, reduce environmental impact fees, and gain the allegiance of these officials.

The Independence of Investigators
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