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City Related

February 20, 2009

Budget Games and Gimmicks

Agreeing on the local government budget is the most important thing that the government does every year, because it affects every department and agency. But with the exception of the big issues of the year, it's a pretty arcane process often accomplished behind closed doors. Thus, it provides excel…
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February 19, 2009

Atlantic City Council Votes to Abolish the City's Ethics Board

A city full of casinos has no need for an ethics board, right? Well, according to an article in yesterday's Press of Atlantic City, that's the decision the Atlantic City council made last week. This decision (a second vote is required for it to be official) comes after a lot of conflict between boa…
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Ethics Commissions & Administration February 19, 2009

How to Undermine Trust in the Ethics Process

Update below: The Internet has been around for some time now, and yet local government officials still get away with saying things like, “If you have a better process or procedure [than having the city council enforce the ethics code], I would like to hear about it.” According to an article yesterd…
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Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play February 18, 2009

Bond Advisers: Pay-to-Play, Phantom Bonds, and a Serious Lack of Transparency

An article in yesterday's New York Times points to yet another clever end run around ethics laws involving municipal bonds. Bond underwriters are not allowed to make campaign contributions, to prevent a pay-to-play environment. However, financial advisers, the people who hook local governments up w…
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February 9, 2009

Michigan's Baby Step Toward Local Government Ethics

The Michigan House passed a bill in November requiring all local governments in Michigan to set up ethics boards. The bill, which amends the state ethics law, requires that ethics boards either use the state law, which is minimal, or that local governments pass their own ethics laws, with no restri…
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Conflicts of Interest February 7, 2009

Personal, Non-Financial Interests

One of my pet peeves is that many if not most local government ethics codes limit the definition of "conflict of interest" to situations where an official's interest involves money. But there are many personal interests that create a conflict, even though no money is involved. I learned this severa…
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Ethics Codes & Reform February 7, 2009

Leadership and Obstacles to Ethics Reform

I recommend an essay by Donald Menzel from the October issue of PM, the magazine of the International City-County Management Association (ICMA), entitled "Strengthening Ethical Governance in Local Governments." Menzel is a former president of the American Society for Public Administration, author o…
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Conflicts of Interest February 5, 2009

Resignation Due to a Conflict of Interest

When is a conflict sufficient to require an official to resign (or not take a position in the first place)? This question involves a lot of gray area, and little black and white. What sorts of interest are enough to undermine public trust, and what sorts of interest provide opportunities for offici…
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Ethics Commissions & Administration February 4, 2009

The Art of Making People Skittish

Move over, presidents, movie stars, and models. Welcome a local government ethics officer to your ranks. Yes, at last a local government ethics officer's picture is on the cover of a magazine. The ethics officer is City Ethics' own Carla Miller, and the magazine is Northeast Florida's Folio Weekly.…
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Local Government Practice February 2, 2009

The Personal Side of Ethics

So much of government ethics involves the contrast, and sometimes the collision, between ethics and law. Too often the personal aspect of government ethics is overlooked. All three get twisted together in a very simple matter that occurred last week in the Escondido (CA) city council, according to …
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Pagination

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