Possibly the most valuable annual local government ethics resource was published this morning:  Patricia Salkin's 2009 Ethical Considerations in Land Use [1], a 28-page summary of reported cases and opinions on ethics matters in land use situations. The 2008 edition [2] focused on wind farm ethics in New York (also see my two blog posts on this topic: 1 [3] 2 [4]). For some earlier updates, click here [5].

One notable trend that Salkin recognizes is that, for the second year in a row, there has been an increase in the number of reported cases involving allegations of unethical conduct on the part of land use attorneys. Allegations of bias and malice also increased.

Salkin is director of the Government Law Center [6] at Albany Law School, and the author of the Law of the Land blog [7], which focuses on land use law. Notable in her blog post on this latest ethics update is that she fails to mention the name of its author - herself.

I will try to comment on some of the most interesting cases in the new update over the next few weeks. But don't wait. This is a goldmine for anyone interested in local government ethics.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research, City Ethics

203-230-2548