City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Conflicts of Interest November 16, 2010

Soliciting Funds for a Conference and an Arts Center

There are some interesting ethics issues being raised in Madison, Wisconsin. The mayor of Madison was asked to co-chair a committee that will be raising funds to sponsor a national conference of urban designers and developers to be held in Madison. One job for the mayor would be to send out fundrai…

November 16, 2010

Some Things We Can Take Away from Rep. Rangel's Ethics Proceeding

Although the ethics proceedings involving Rep. Charles Rangel (NY) are at the federal level, there is a lot to be learned from them that is relevant at the local level. Yesterday, Mr. Rangel walked out of a meeting of the adjudicatory subcommittee of the House ethics committee, insisting that he co…

Ethics Codes & Reform November 13, 2010

Waivers and Ironies

This post will be of special interest to those who enjoy the occasional ironies that arise in the world of government ethics. According to an article in today's New York Times, the woman named to be New York City's new schools chancellor has decided to resign from her positions on the boards of Coc…

Ethics Codes & Reform November 13, 2010

Cases from the Salkin Roundup I

Prof. Patricia Salkin, director of the Government Law Center at Albany Law School and author of the Law of the Land blog, has published another of her regular roundup of what's been happening recently in the ethics of land use. Her focus is on cases that have gone to court. I will be discussing a f…

November 12, 2010

A Miscellany

A Resignation from an Ethics Board for a Possible Future Conflict A member of the Philadelphia Board of Ethics resigned recently, according to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The reason for his resignation was a possible conflict of interest due to his representation of the Philadelphia Ho…

November 11, 2010

Drastic Proposals to Disassemble the Dream Machine

Vernon, CA, the subject of several blog posts here (click here for the latest), has been the object of criminal investigations, but now local officials are starting to get creative in response to the most creatively imagined city in the U.S. Solution 1: Constitutional Amendment According to an arti…

Conflicts of Interest November 10, 2010

Ethics and Local Political Party Officers

One group of individuals with a great deal of power in local government is not covered by local ethics codes or the other aspects of local ethics programs. That group consists of officers of local political parties. Sometimes a party chair is the most powerful individual in the city or county, the …

November 9, 2010

A Recall Effort in Miami-Dade: Pros and Cons

Update: December 16, 2012 (see below) The news has been full of information about billionaires sponsoring, secretly and publicly, independent ads supporting and attacking candidates as well as ballot initiatives. For instance, according to a new report from the National Institute on Money in State …

November 8, 2010

Taking Responsibility for Planting Rats

Former House majority leader Tom DeLay is currently on trial for laundering $200,000 in PAC contributions from corporate lobbyists through the Republican National Committee to Texas candidates. In Texas, corporate money cannot be used for political campaigns. According to an article in today's New …

November 6, 2010

A Miscellany

County Ethics Embraced By Its Cities and Towns Ethics reform won big in Palm Beach County on Tuesday. The final tallies were published on Friday. According to an article in yesterday's Palm Beach Post, every single city and town in the county voted in favor of applying the county's code to their to…

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