City Ethics | Breaking the oxymoron: "City Ethics"

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play October 22, 2010

Government Employee Union Campaign Contributions

According to an article in today's Wall Street Journal, business organizations are arguing that government employee unions have a conflict of interest that should prevent them from supporting candidates for office. "Public-sector unions have a guaranteed source of revenue—you and me as taxpayers," the executive director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Workforce Freedom Initiative is quoted as saying.

Conflicts of Interest October 21, 2010

Indirect Benefits and Parents of Government Contractors

Indirect benefits are one of the most problematic issues in government ethics. Usually, indirect benefits relate to an official's relationships, that is, where the official receives not a direct financial benefit, but satisfaction or an indirect benefit from a financial benefit going instead to a relative, employer, customer, or substantial political supporter.

Ethics Codes & Reform October 20, 2010

Ethics Attacks and Ethics Reform

Meredith McGehee wrote a thought-provoking Campaign Legal Center blog post yesterday about the upside of election time ethics attacks on opponents.

"Current political thinking generally laments this development, arguing that it cheapens the process and puts all politicians in a bad light." But she sees it as a good development. I don't agree.

Does the Prospect of Attacks Cause Politicians to Better Police Themselves?

Conflicts of Interest October 19, 2010

Withdrawal from Participation

Recusal is one of the least well understood aspects of government ethics. Most people seem to think it is limited to abstaining on a vote where you have a conflict of interest, and many ethics codes define it that way, if they require recusal at all.

But abstention is not sufficient for many reasons. One of them is at the center of a court case in New York State, Eastern Oaks Development v Town of Clinton.

Local Government Practice October 18, 2010

The Vicious Circle of Fear and Indifference

Citizen indifference and lack of participation is the most damaging result of a lack of trust in government officials. One reason is that a vicious circle is created. When government officials are untrustworthy, and especially when they use intimidation to create the sort of fear that severely cuts into citizen participation, there are fewer people to watch over them on behalf of the public. This makes government officials feel more fearless and act more self-serving and more openly intimidating. And so on.

Transparency & Disclosure October 18, 2010

Formatting and Placing Disclosure So That It Is Most Effective

It's always nice to see clever, simple, effective forms of disclosure that convey the most important information in the most readable, quickly understandable way. Such a form of disclosure is suggested in a paper published a month ago by Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School, and summarized in an Election Law Blog post that ran yesterday.

Ethics Codes & Reform October 15, 2010

Situational Ethics Is Inappropriate in a Government Ethics Context

The term "situational ethics" derives from a particular theory of a priest named Joseph Fletcher, but it is more generally understood to mean dealing with ethics in terms of a particular situation and particular goals (ends-oriented ethics). In other words, it is ethics that allows for different rules in different circumstances, but also for self-serving, sometimes hypocritical, ethical statements and actions.

Ethics Codes & Reform October 15, 2010

A Government Ethics Definition of "Ethics"

Most people define "ethics" in a way that doesn't really fit into the scheme of government ethics, which focuses on conflicts of interest. Even the definitions section of this website defines "ethics" as "a major branch of philosophy that involves analysis of right conduct."

Enforcement & Complaints October 14, 2010

Basing Ethics Decisions on Unenforceable Code Provisions Undermines Trust in the Ethics Process

I recently wrote about a situation in Stamford, CT in which probable cause was found based on a policy declaration rather than an enforceable ethics provision. That situation appeared to involve a misunderstanding, with a unanimous ethics commission finding probable cause.

Ethics Codes & Reform October 13, 2010

Four Varying Approaches to Ethics Reform

Four current attempts at ethics reform show the incredible variety of approaches and ideas of what government ethics is.

Prohibiting County Employees from Contracting with the County

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