City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Ethics Commissions & Administration February 22, 2011

Consolidating Connecticut's Ethics Agencies Would Be Wrong for Several Reasons

Agency consolidation seems to be the buzzword this year. The ostensible reason is to save money and use government resources more efficiently. But is this really the principal reason? A bill has just been introduced in Connecticut (my state) to place the Office of State Ethics (the state ethics com…

Ethics Codes & Reform February 22, 2011

NY State Bar Association Report on Local Government Ethics Reform

On January 28, the New York State Bar Association issued a report on government ethics reform in New York State, which includes a section on local government ethics reform. The report points out the many inadequacies of Article 18 of the General Municipal Law (click on GMU, then scroll down and cli…

Local Government Practice February 21, 2011

Should an Ethics Provision Limit an Official's Discretion to Withdraw?

An article in the Bismarck (ND) Tribune this weekend raised the issue of when a board or commission member may withdraw from a matter in which he feels he has a conflict, but where there is not a direct, pecuniary interest. It turns out that, back in 2007, the Burleigh County state's attorney had a…

February 20, 2011

Grand Jury Lays Into Broward County (FL) School Board

You know you're doing a pretty poor job with government ethics when a grand jury recommends that you be all but abolished. This is the case with the Broward County School Board, according to a report published on Frday. It concludes, on p. 48: Unfortunately based on the history of this Board as an …

February 19, 2011

Stamford Antagonists Reach a Settlement!

Good news from Stamford. According to an article in yesterday's Stamford Advocate and another article that just appeared online two hours ago, the board of ethics reached a settlement with the chair of the board of finance, in which they agreed to withdraw all ethics complaints and the federal suit…

Conflicts of Interest February 19, 2011

The Responsible Handling of an Ongoing Conflict Situation in New Castle County, Delaware

It's nice to be able to write about a difficult conflict situation that is handled responsibly. It's unusual to be able to write about a resolution where the local newspaper ends its editorial saying that the right thing has been done. According to an article posted last night on delawareonline.com…

February 18, 2011

Transparency and Confidential Information Issues in Clackamas County, OR

Transparency, although not generally part of a local ethics code, is central to a local government's ethics environment. A lack of transparency is both a tell-tale sign that things are wrong, and an impediment to discussing ethics issues and enforcing ethics violations. Unfortunately, ethics codes …

February 17, 2011

Another Attempt to Amend the Speech or Debate Clause in R.I.

For any speech in debate in either house, no member shall be questioned in any other place, except by the ethics commission as set forth in Article III, section 8 of this Constitution. No, this is not the text of a dream I had last night. This is the text of an amendment to the Rhode Island consti…

February 17, 2011

Open Meeting Act Enforcement Problems in Oklahoma

Oklahoma's Open Meeting Act, which applies to local governments, ends with an unusual provision. That provision is the only provision in the act that deals with enforcement. It says that a willful violation of a provision is a misdemeanor, and that someone guilty of a violation may be fined up to $…

Ethics Codes & Reform February 16, 2011

State Ethics Mandates for Local Governments

Unfunded Open Meetings Mandate in California Local governments' protests against unfunded state mandates might, in this time of spending cuts, lead to the undermining of state ethics laws that apply to local governments. The first sign of this is in California, of course. According to an AP article…

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