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City Related

Local Government Practice July 16, 2007

Local Government Post-Mortems

Whenever someone dies in a village in Bangladesh, Gonoshasthaya Kendra, a health charity, holds a public post-mortem, according to an article in the July 7, 2007 issue of the Economist. 'The aim is not to blame or indict per se'bare-knuckled confrontation would alienate the government'but to remind…
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July 14, 2007

Newark, NJ: The Ethical Damage of Hiding Corruption Behind a Racial Screen

According to a 33-count indictment filed yesterday by the United States Attorney for New Jersey, former Newark, NJ mayor Sharpe James appears to have been just another crooked urban mayor out to help himself and his friends to the sort of perks that aren't supposed to come with public service: trip…
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July 14, 2007

Affirmative Action and School Boards' Balancing of Ethical Principles

An excellent op-ed column by Stanley Fish in the July 14 New York Times focuses on a very difficult ethical problem in municipal government: affirmative action. The recently decided Supreme Court decision, Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 et al (No. 05-908), co…
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Conflicts of Interest July 9, 2007

The Ethics of Contingency-Fee Arrangements

Many municipal ethics codes have a provision similar to this one: Contingent Fees No official or employee may retain, or be retained by, anyone to solicit or secure a contract with the town upon an agreement or understanding that includes a commission, percentage, brokerage, or contingent fee, exce…
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Ethics Codes & Reform July 9, 2007

Whistle-Blowing and the Ante of Unethical Conduct

According to a May 24, 2007 New York Times editorial, the Commerce Department inspector general, charged with protecting whistle-blowers, took vengeance on two subordinates who questioned his expense accounts. He reassigned his top deputy and his counsel to peripheral jobs, when they refused to sig…
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Local Government Practice July 4, 2007

How False Rumors Can Undermine a City's Ethical Environment

If you had no knowledge of government ethics, and you were asked what, on a day-to-day, moment-to-moment basis, was the most frequent form of unethical behavior in municipal government, you might say 'passing rumors along.' That's the meat and the potatoes of every organization's conversations, and…
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Enforcement & Complaints June 24, 2007

The Lawyer Discipline System and Its Effects on Municipal Ethics

Today's New York Times Week in Review section features an article on local prosecutors and how their ethical misconduct is dealt with by the lawyer discipline system, the profession's disciplinary system. The case of the Duke lacrosse prosecutor, Michael B. Nifong, is, of course, the occasion for t…
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Resources & Learning June 20, 2007

Logical Fallacies IV - Begging the Question and Appeals to Emotion

At first glance, these two logical fallacies don't seem to have much to do with each other. When you beg the question, you assume something has been established or proved, according to my trusty dictionary. The way a logician would define the begging the question fallacy is that the premises includ…
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Resources & Learning June 19, 2007

The Best Continuing Ethics Education No Money Can Buy -- With Deterrence Thrown In

One great advantage of handling local government ethics matters at the state level is that decisions and advisory opinions can be easily and widely disseminated to all local governments in the state. This sort of publicity is good for several reasons. One, it provides precedents and guidance to loc…
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June 18, 2007

Hartford "Political Boss" Makes the System Work for Him, Complete with Conflicts and Self-Help Contract Specs

Today's Hartford Courant gives us an excellent picture of a very creative way of making the municipal government work for you, conflicts of interest be damned. The municipal entrepreneur in this instance is Abraham L. Giles, referred to as a 'North End political boss.' His scheme involves vulnerabl…
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