City Related | City Ethics

Conflicts of Interest July 9, 2009

Improperly Invoking Conflicts in an Election Context

I don't like seeing conflicts of interest discussed improperly in the context of an election. Elections are a good time to educate the public about issues, but when government ethics is used for partisan purposes, it undermines both the public's understanding and their trust in elected officials. A…

Local Government Practice July 8, 2009

Local Government Attorney Ethics Advice

A judicial opinion is apparently not enough to put an end to local government officials using the excuse that the local government attorney told them participation in a matter is legal. Nor is the fact that the official's decision whether to participate is not solely a legal decision, but rather a …

Conflicts of Interest July 6, 2009

Wearing Two Hats in a Community Nonprofit Transaction

It is common for mayors and council members to take volunteer positions on the boards of community nonprofits. Sometimes it's primarily honorific, but sometimes it shows a special commitment to a particular program or project, and sometimes it involves a leadership position. Such a position can cre…

June 26, 2009

An Arrogant Response to an Ethics Report

It's not easy to publicize ethical and unethical activity in a responsible manner. And when this is done, it can sometimes lead to false attacks on the the legitimacy of the organization doing the publicizing. This is what happened this week in Colorado. Colorado Ethics Watch published an Ethics Ro…

June 23, 2009

A Michigan Law Requiring Local Government Legislators to Vote

In her comment to my blog post on a Michigan recusal matter, Catherine Mullhaupt of the Michigan Townships Association not only pointed out the effect of a women's property rights act on local government conflict of interest law (see my blog post on this), but also pointed out a Michigan law (42.7(…

Conflicts of Interest June 18, 2009

Dealing Responsibly with Conflicts in College Towns

How does a council deal with conflicts in a company town? My first response to this would be, are there still company towns? Well, certainly not as many as there used to be, but probably most of the ones that remain are college towns. That's the case in Loma Linda, according to an article in yester…

Ethics Commissions & Administration June 17, 2009

Ethics Commission Community Outreach

Community outreach is usually toward the bottom of a local government ethics commission's priority list. Googling one thing or another, I came across this memo from the executive director of the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, which includes an invitation to members of the press, government, and …

June 16, 2009

Ethics Reform in Seattle

Yesterday, the Seattle City Council passed amendments to the city's ethics code, based on recommendations from the city's ethics commission, according to an article in the West Seattle Herald (highlights of the amendments can be found here). Financial Interests The definition of "financial interest…

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play June 15, 2009

Lobbying and Large Local Government Contracts

One of the biggest problems with local government lobbyists is that they invariably have close contacts with those who run the city or county. So whenever they are involved in a matter, especially the bidding of large contracts, there is a strong appearance of impropriety, and people don't trust th…

Conflicts of Interest June 11, 2009

Three Recusal Case Studies

Here are three different recusal case studies: Public Recusal Is Not Enough One of the most important things to emphasize about recusal is that recusal at a meeting is not enough. Recusal is supposed to mean withdrawal from involvement in any aspect of a matter where an official has a conflict of i…

Subscribe to City Related