City Related | City Ethics

Ethics Codes & Reform December 3, 2011

Treating Institutional Problems as Institutional Problems

According to an article in Parsippany (NJ) Life, a Parsippany school board member filed an ethics complaint against himself with the state's School Ethics Commission. Is this odd course of action the best way to bring transparency to the school board, an institutional rather than personal problem? …

Enforcement & Complaints November 21, 2011

A Local Ethics Law Without Local Ethics Enforcement

Here's the situation. There is a state ethics program that applies to local governments, and an ethics issue relating to a local law arises. There is no local ethics commission to enforce the local law, so what happens? This is the situation in Cincinnati. The issue involves a charter provision tha…

Ethics Commissions & Administration November 18, 2011

How to Bring Power Brokers into a Government Ethics Program

The situation of Rose Pak, a power broker for San Francisco's Chinese-American community who was featured a week ago in a New York Times article, raises some interesting questions. A paid consultant to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, she has never held public office. Nor has she ever registered as…

Ethics Commissions & Administration October 3, 2011

Carrigan and an Obligation to Seek Ethics Advice

Yet another brief has been filed in the Carrigan v. Commission on Ethics of the State of Nevada case, this time the EC's supplemental brief on remand to the Nevada Supreme Court. The principal issue discussed in this brief is vagueness, which has stood in the background behind First Amendment issue…

Transparency & Disclosure September 28, 2011

Preserving Records and Setting Up Responsible Gift Procedures

What can be done when a public agency that gives gifts to public officials destroys its gift records? This question arises from an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week about the Alpharetta (GA) Convention and Visitors Bureau, an independent agency funded partially by a local hotel …

Local Government Practice September 17, 2011

The Effect of Making a Legislative Immunity Defense

Another serious problem posed by making a legislative immunity defense in the local government ethics context can be seen from reading the recommendation of the investigating panel of the Stamford (CT) board of ethics. In the section that provides reasons for dismissal of a complaint brought agains…

September 16, 2011

Interesting Ethics Issues in Santa Fe

A lot of interesting issues have arisen with respect to Santa Fe's Ethics and Campaign Review Board. A Majority of Lawyers on an Ethics Board First, a new selection process was created, and the ethics board members were replaced some time between the July and August meetings. Instead of having coun…

Conflicts of Interest September 11, 2011

The Appropriateness of Business and Union Gifts to Government

It is a given (although not a fact) that everyone wants to make it as easy as possible to vote. Voting is the principal way most people participate in a democracy, and choosing our local officials is the way we determine the direction and quality of management of our community. In most countries, v…

Transparency & Disclosure September 6, 2011

Making the Private Misconduct of Public Servants Public

The situation where New York City's mayor misrepresented the reason for the resignation of one of his deputy mayors in order to protect his privacy regarding a domestic dispute raises some interesting issues about transparency, favoritism, and the extent to which the private should be made public. …

Enforcement & Complaints September 3, 2011

D.C. Legislative Immunity in a Case Alleging Retaliation Against a Whistleblower

Did you know that the District of Columbia has its own Speech or Debate Clause? I learned this from reading the Motion for a Protective Order on Behalf of Mayor Vincent C. Gray filed on Thursday in the case of Payne v. District of Columbia. Gray, a former council president, is seeking to be protect…

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