City Related | City Ethics

Conflicts of Interest August 1, 2010

Can Delinquency on Taxes Be a Cause for Recusal?

According to an article in the Tidewater News, a Franklin (VA) council member said at his first council meeting that he felt the city should stop charging interest on delinquent property taxes, since so many taxpayers are under financial duress. The council member happens to be one of those delinqu…

Conflicts of Interest July 31, 2010

The Pretzel Logic Required by Limiting Conflicts to Financial Interests. And the Ultimate Defense.

Update: August 2, 2010 (see below) I've long said that conflicts of interest should not be limited to financial interests or, in other terms, situations where a possible financial benefit or loss is involved (see, for example, this 2009 blog post). My position is confirmed by the twisted yet necess…

Transparency & Disclosure July 29, 2010

Lack of Transparency and Voter Indifference Can Make a Big Difference

Update: September 23, 2010 (see below) Lack of transparency and voter indifference, especially relating to technical issues, are often considered minor issues not central to local government ethics. What happened the last few years in Bell, California (pop. 37,000; Los Angeles County) should make p…

Local Government Practice July 28, 2010

The Public's Right to a Public-Interested Representative

Update: January 11, 2011 (see below) According to a July 2 unpublished opinion by Judge Flanagan of the Washoe County (NV) district court, Carrigan v. Commission on Ethics of the State of Nevada (attached; see below), a city council member has a first amendment free speech right to vote where there…

Conflicts of Interest July 25, 2010

Creating and Denying Conflicts of Interest in Harlingen, Texas

In researching a recent ethics complaint in Harlingen, Texas (pop. 67,000), I came across some disturbing ethics matters. The most disturbing can be seen from the minutes of the city development corporation's September 29, 2009 meeting (pp. 3-4). Brendan Hall, the former city attorney, wanted to re…

July 20, 2010

Fort Wayne Deserves a Far Better Ethics Program

If you're a city of a quarter million people with an ethics board that “has not met in many years and ... is effectively non-existent,” according to a council member who has proposed a new ethics ordinance, what do you do? Not, I think, what the proposed ordinance (p. 16ff) does, which is create a …

Ethics Commissions & Administration July 20, 2010

Problems Involving Campaign Contributions by EC Members

I hate to see people resign with statements such as this, as typical as they are: While I have been assured that I have violated no existing code, ordinance or statute, I cannot permit my integrity — and, by insinuation, Councilwoman Hermann’s — to be attacked. Sadly, these are the words of a forme…

Conflicts of Interest July 19, 2010

Being Too Careful About Conflicts

It's important to be careful when it comes to conflicts of interest, but it's also important not to be too careful. When you're too careful, you send the wrong message to members of the community and you miseducate them about government ethics. This is what happened this week in my own town of Nort…

Ethics Codes & Reform July 12, 2010

Inquiry Judge Says That Ethical Obligations Go Beyond Ethics Law Provisions

There's an interesting issue at the heart of a judicial inquiry into possible misconduct by the mayor of Mississauga, Ontario. The council sought the inquiry to “investigate any supposed breach of trust or other misconduct of a Member of Council, an employee of the municipality or person having a c…

Local Government Practice July 8, 2010

Local Officials Dealing with the Unethical Conduct of Other Local Officials

A situation in the city of Alameda, CA once again points out that government officials dealing with the possibly unethical conduct of other government officials is not a good thing. According to an article today in the San Francisco Chronicle, the city of Alameda asked the city's outside counsel to…

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