City Related | City Ethics

Ethics Commissions & Administration June 5, 2012

The Problems with Nominating a Top Government Lawyer to Sit on an Ethics Commission

What does it mean to be a "high-caliber" nominee for a position on a local ethics commission? Does it mean someone who has been in law enforcement, a prosecutor or judge whose presence sends the message that the law will be enforced? Or does it mean someone who appears to be independent of the loca…

Ethics Commissions & Administration June 1, 2012

How to Deal with a Conflict at the Center of a Conflict of Interest Program

Update: July 17, 2012 (see end of this post) Here's an interesting conflict situation from Concord, NH. According to a recent article in the Concord Patch, a state representative filed ethics complaints against Concord's mayor and one of the city's council members. Since the mayor and city manager …

Local Government Practice May 30, 2012

A Special Ordinance Is Not the Way to Provide a Waiver

There are usually many ways to deal responsibly with a conflict situation. But there are also many irresponsible ways to deal with a conflict situation. One of the irresponsible ways is to be considered today in Portland, OR, according to an article on the KATU News website. The conflict situation …

Local Government Practice May 29, 2012

How a Mayor's Special Obligations Affect His Right to Remain Silent

Washington Post columnist Robert McCartney raised an issue in a column this weekend that I feel should be taken seriously. The background story is that two of the current D.C. mayor's campaign aides confessed to having paid a mayoral candidate, and offered him a job in the coming administration, fo…

May 16, 2012

D.C. Legislative Immunity Decision Ignores Constitutional-Legislative Differences

Last September, I wrote a blog post about the attempt by District of Columbia council members to block a subpoena by employing a legislative immunity defense. The case involves retaliation against a whistleblower who had alleged improper council input in the awarding of a lottery contract. On Monda…

May 1, 2012

Chicago Ethics Task Force Files First Report

The Chicago Ethics Reform Task Force report was published yesterday. Well, at least Part 1 was published. As I said in my blog post about the announcement of the task force's creation, "four months, including the holiday season, is a short time for four people and their likely inexperienced lawyers…

Transparency & Disclosure April 24, 2012

Misrepresentations Regarding Disclosure

This week, a citizen in the village of Niles, IL (pop. 30,000) made a proposal for applicant disclosure, something every ethics program should have, but most do not. According to an article in yesterday's Niles Herald-Spectator, the proposal "would ask if the applicant’s officers, directors or part…

April 18, 2012

Kansas City (MO) Takes a Big Step Toward Ethics Reform

According to the blog of Kansas City, MO's mayor, Sly James, the KC Commission on Ethics Reform will be holding a public hearing tomorrow on its draft ethics code. It's clear from the draft that the commission made excellent use of the City Ethics Model Code. The result is a good draft that falls s…

Ethics Commissions & Administration April 16, 2012

Selecting Ethics Commission Members in a Poor Ethics Environment

Across the nation, there have been numerous occasions when local government officials oppose disclosure requirements, sometimes even the most minimal ones (for example, the name of an elected official’s employer). Arguments are made about privacy, identity theft, and overweening government. There i…

Conflicts of Interest April 13, 2012

A De Minimis Conflict in a De Maximis Situation

Here's an interesting conflict question. According to an article in the Tewksbury Patch this week, a special town meeting in Tewksbury, MA will soon vote on whether to go to referendum on the question of replacing the town meeting with a council. The question is whether the elected town meeting mod…

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