City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Resources & Learning December 16, 2011

Henry Adams on Government Ethics

Henry Adams' 1880 novel Democracy is a must-read for those interested in government ethics. It's also a first-rate novel, full of wit, excellent writing, and a good portrayal of post-Civil War Washington. It's available free from Project Gutenberg, in six e-book formats. The climax of the novel is …

December 9, 2011

Chicago Goes the Task Force Route

The creation of an ethics task force is a popular way for local government leaders to pursue ethics reform. It provides the appearance of community involvement and independence, and it means that reform ideas are not something to be imposed by a mayor on council members and other officials, which c…

Local Government Practice December 8, 2011

COGEL Talk on Legislative Immunity: Same Goals As Government Ethics, and Not Absolute

Below is the text of a talk I gave at the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws conference this week. Due to time limitations, I was not able to share this entire text, so even those who heard the talk may want to read this and see what they missed. For those who have been following my posts on legis…

Ethics Codes & Reform December 3, 2011

Treating Institutional Problems as Institutional Problems

According to an article in Parsippany (NJ) Life, a Parsippany school board member filed an ethics complaint against himself with the state's School Ethics Commission. Is this odd course of action the best way to bring transparency to the school board, an institutional rather than personal problem? …

Enforcement & Complaints November 21, 2011

A Local Ethics Law Without Local Ethics Enforcement

Here's the situation. There is a state ethics program that applies to local governments, and an ethics issue relating to a local law arises. There is no local ethics commission to enforce the local law, so what happens? This is the situation in Cincinnati. The issue involves a charter provision tha…

Enforcement & Complaints November 19, 2011

Making Your Own Good Luck

Imagine this story. A mayor calls a group of local contractors and developers to a closed meeting on furthering economic growth in the city. The guests are given a welcome pack, and in the welcome pack is a plain brown, unmarked envelope. The mayor ran on a platform of stopping corruption, but the …

Ethics Commissions & Administration November 18, 2011

How to Bring Power Brokers into a Government Ethics Program

The situation of Rose Pak, a power broker for San Francisco's Chinese-American community who was featured a week ago in a New York Times article, raises some interesting questions. A paid consultant to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, she has never held public office. Nor has she ever registered as…

Conflicts of Interest November 11, 2011

Rules for Officials "Dating" Lobbyists

“The concern with potential corruption does not stop just because the relationship has entered the bedroom.’’ For those of you who think my blog needs a little spice, this is a good ice breaker. These are the words of Kathay Feng, head of California Common Cause, spoken at a meeting of the Fair Pol…

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play November 8, 2011

Abramoff on Lobbying, Gifts, and Campaign Contributions

A good followup to my last blog post, on Lawrence Lessig's book, is what Jack Abramoff said on 60 Minutes this Sunday, pushing his new book Capitol Punishment. America's most infamous lobbyist went almost overboard condemning both himself and the system by which lobbyists get what they want out of …

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play November 5, 2011

Lessig on the Effects of Elected Officials' Dependency Problem

Lawrence Lessig's excellent new book Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress—and a Plan to Stop It (Twelve, Oct. 5, 2011) is about Congress and mostly about campaign finance, but it is also an important look at institutional corruption that has some valuable things to say that are relevant to l…

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