County Related | City Ethics

Ethics Commissions & Administration May 28, 2009

Educating the Public About the Limited Role of an Ethics Commission

See update below What is a local government ethics commission's role when a government official has done something illegal or unethical that has nothing to do with the official's work in government? That's the question facing the Knox County (TN) Ethics Committee, according to an article in yesterd…

May 13, 2009

Jackson County Legislators Abandon Promise to Make Themselves Subject to New Ethics Code

The word from Jackson County (MO) last week was that the county legislature was "close to revising the county’s ethics code to include them under its rules," according to an article in the Kansas City Star, as discussed, very skeptically, in a recent blog entry. Taking themselves out of the ethics …

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play April 14, 2009

Good People Arguing for Pay-to-Play in a Charities Context

Broward County (FL), home of Ft. Lauderdale, is working on ethics reform, something Ft. Lauderdale itself did in 2007. Today, according to a piece on the Sun-Sentinel Broward Politics website, a county commissioner will be introducing a bill to prevent county commissioners from soliciting contribut…

April 6, 2009

The Need for an Independent Ethics Commission in San Bernardino County

Updates below According to an article in yesterday's Press-Enterprise, San Bernardino County (CA) looks like it might soon have an ethics commission. After numerous scandals, two of five members of the county's board of supervisors are convinced of the need for an independent ethics panel with teet…

April 2, 2009

A County Attorney At War with the County: The Conflicts Fly in Maricopa County

The Council on Governmental Ethics Laws has great instincts for meeting where the ethics problems are greatest. Last year it met in Chicago. This year it will be Maricopa County, AZ (the Phoenix area). See update below A couple months ago, I wrote about the Maricopa County sheriff's self-promotion …

Conflicts of Interest March 30, 2009

Complicity and Knowledge

Last month, I wrote about the responsibility of lawyers and other professionals for doing something about the deeply unethical conduct of two judges in Pennsylvania who unjustly, and to their own financial benefit, incarcerated hundreds of juveniles. A few days ago, the New York Times ran a follow-…

Conflicts of Interest March 21, 2009

The Conflict at the Heart of the Local Election Process

Last October, I wrote a blog entry about why parties should fight elections, not referee them. An indictment this month in Kentucky emphasizes the need for the election process to be taken out of the hands of those contending for the results of that process. According to the indictment, the Clay Co…

March 12, 2009

False Presentation of an Ethics Ordinance - In Jackson County, MO, Of Course

Every time I check up on Jackson County, MO, I find something more that's shameful, if that word can be used anymore. This time a blog sent me to a You Tube video of the county legislature passing the new ethics ordinance, which I discussed in a blog entry earlier this week. Eight minutes of parlia…

Enforcement & Complaints March 7, 2009

Legislators Fending Off Ethics Enforcement -- Who Needs Legislative Immunity?

Two months ago, I wrote a blog entry about the en masse resignation of the Jackson County (MO) ethics commission, and said that this was a sign that things were seriously wrong in that county. Little did I know. One thing I didn't know was the conflict that lies at the center of the commission's se…

Local Government Practice March 3, 2009

Political Activity on the Job

The ethics provision that is probably most consistently violated is the one about political activity in city or county hall. The City Ethics Model Code Project version reads as follows: An official, employee, or municipal candidate may not knowingly request, or authorize anyone else to request, tha…

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