City Related

See below for two updates I've written a lot about politicians' charities, and how they allow lobbyists and others to get around limits on campaign contributions. But an article in today's New York Times presents a new form of abuse of a politician's charities (although it's not as different as it …

According to an article in today's New York Times and in yesterday's Huffington Post, the investigator charged by Alaska's Legislative Committee, before Sarah Palin was even being considered as a vice presidential candidate, found in a report that, among other things, Gov. Palin abused her power by…

When does an interest become an interest? When an official starts thinking about entering into a contract? When she starts negotiating the contract? When she agrees on the details? When she actually signs the contract? Or is this not really the question to focus on? According to an article in the A…

Sometimes a conflict of interest can help a community save money. An official with a relationship to a company might be able to negotiate a better deal for his town, as long as his company gets the business and the credit. But is this legitimate, and even if it is, how should it be handled? Accordi…