City Related | City Ethics

Transparency & Disclosure April 12, 2011

Financial Disclosure Requirements Are Minimal

Update: May 14, 2011 (see below) An ethics controversy in Hartford presents a perfect opportunity to show the difference between ethics and law, and the right way to approach financial disclosure requirements. Here are the facts, as reported in two Jon Lender columns in the Hartford Courant Sunday …

April 11, 2011

Local Official Involvement in Shadow Banking

An interesting question arises from a big investigative article in yesterday's Miami Herald: is it unethical for a mayor and his wife to be part of a shadow banking network in their city? The city is Hialeah, the second largest in Miami-Dade County. The shadow banking network arose during the boom…

April 8, 2011

A Miscellany

Model Ethics Code Promotion As Community Service I promise you that I did not write the City Ethics Model Code in order to shorten my prison sentence. According to an article in yesterday's Connecticut Post, that is effectively what a Shelton, CT developer offered to do to shorten his sentence for …

Enforcement & Complaints April 1, 2011

Penalizing Ethics Proceeding Transparency

Transparency is one of the most controversial aspects of government ethics. It's so controversial that it is rarely discussed in terms of transparency. It is almost always discussed in terms of confidentiality, which is rarefly referred to by its popular name: secrecy. This careful use of words lea…

Ethics Commissions & Administration March 31, 2011

Independence of Ethics Administration Should Trump Independence of Agencies and Districts

Two types of independence often clash when it comes to government ethics. It is important that government ethics programs be administered by independent commissions. But independent agencies often do what they can not to be subject to a local government ethics commission. It is clear which sort of …

Conflicts of Interest March 27, 2011

Council Chair and Chamber Director: How Conflicting Are These Positions?

Without giving it any thought, it would be hard to think of a better fit than a city politician running the local chamber of commerce. After all, the goals of a chamber of commerce and of a city government are pretty much the same: security, good government, good services, low taxes. But when you …

Conflicts of Interest March 25, 2011

Is An Attempt to Improve Appearances Worse Than Serving Oneself?

Some local government ethics codes include a provision prohibiting officials from acting outside of their authority, which is especially directed at council members interfering in a city or county's management. I don't consider this a government ethics issue, since it does not necessarily involve f…

March 24, 2011

A Miscellany

Some Problems with Mayoral Executive Orders in Philadelphia On January 25, Philadelphia Mayor Nutter signed three ethics-related executive orders, which I would love to link you to, but cannot. How effective, except as a way to get the council moving on ethics reform, are executive orders that can'…

Ethics Commissions & Administration March 22, 2011

Ethics Commissions Should Stick to Their Area of Jurisdiction and Should Stay Out of Politics

A recent decision of the Wilton, NY ethics board (attached; see below) raises important issues regarding the selection of ethics commission members, their withdrawal from participation when they have a conflict, and the way an ethics commission handles allegations that are not covered by the ethics…

March 15, 2011

A Miscellany

Conning Citizens Car towing is one of the biggest temptations in local government. A police officer goes to the scene of an accident, and one or more drivers needs to have their cars towed. The drivers are injured or at least in shock, and rarely thinking straight. The officer has been offered so m…

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