City Related | City Ethics

January 8, 2010

A Miscellany

Baltimore Mayor Resigns Baltimore's mayor resigned on Wednesday, fortunately after being convicted of the crime of embezzlement (albeit for $500 in gift cards) rather than the ethics violation (not yet tried) of failing to include gifts on her financial disclosure statement (see Baltimore Sun artic…

Ethics Commissions & Administration January 7, 2010

A Paean to a Local Ethics Commission

It's worth a look at Philadelphia columnist Dave Davies' last column after twenty-five years on the job. It's something rarely seen in the local government ethics world: a hymn of praise to a local ethics commission, which he calls "a watchdog that isn't afraid to bite." He ends his column on Phila…

Ethics Commissions & Administration January 6, 2010

The Effect of NYC's Conflicts of Interest Board on the Ethics Programs in New York State's Larger Cities

New York City's Conflicts of Interest Board is one of the premier ethics commissions in the U.S. One would assume that its rules and procedures would provide an example, as well as guidance, for the rest of the state. So I would like to look at ethics programs in the other largest (although not lar…

Conflicts of Interest January 4, 2010

Recusal Involves Participation in Any Forum

One of the most common mistakes government officials make is to see recusal as involving only a decision whether or not to vote on a matter where they have a possible conflict of interest. A Phoenix council member and a city attorney appear to have made this mistake. According to an article in the …

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play January 3, 2010

NJ Municipal Pay-to-Play Ordinances and a State Contribution Database

Who expects a wonderful local government ethics surprise to come from New Jersey? Check out the Department of State's Pay-to-Play Ordinances page, which provides links, county by county, of municipal ordinances placing a limited contribution ban on those entering into municipal contracts. The ordin…

Conflicts of Interest January 2, 2010

Compliance and Conflicts in Tallahassee: The Organization Interest vs. The Public Interest

Tallahassee takes a compliance approach to ethics. Its ethics code is aspirational, based on core values. Its ethics training employs a Character First approach. Conflicts of interest are only a small portion of a program that ranges from personnel and transparency issues to harassment, discriminat…

December 31, 2009

Chicago Compliance and Integrity Survey

Update: January 4, 2010 (see below) On December 15, Chicago published a Compliance and Integrity Survey that its Office of Compliance commissioned from the Ethics Resource Center, a primarily corporate ethics and compliance research organization. Here are some of the principal findings of the surve…

Ethics Codes & Reform December 30, 2009

It's Not the Law, It's the Ethics

In three cities this week, top officials showed the ability to get away with unethical behavior, but not the ability to distinguish law from ethics. Poor Judgment All Around The mayor of Phoenix admitted to a romantic involvement with a woman he hired to raise campaign funds, paying her over $200,0…

December 30, 2009

Campaign Finance Suit in San Diego

It's only a month ago that a federal court in California rejected a PAC's attempt to prevent the Los Angeles ethics commission from enforcing contribution limits in the city's ethics laws. And yet, according to an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune, this week the Republican Party of San Diego C…

Ethics Commissions & Administration December 26, 2009

A Proposal to Make New York City's Conflicts of Interest Board More Independent

The ethics commission for the largest American city, and the only one with a truly appropriate title — New York City's Conflicts of Interest Board — is appointed by the city's extremely strong mayor, with council approval. If this old and highly respected EC were to be made independent of the admin…

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