Disclosure | City Ethics

Transparency & Disclosure March 17, 2010

A New Idea: Lifestyle Audits

Have you ever wondered how a local government department head can afford to live like a king on a $100,000 salary? This is what people are wondering in South Africa, where union leaders are calling for "lifestyle audits" of all senior government officials in order to find out who is on the take, ac…

Transparency & Disclosure March 4, 2010

An Honor System That Didn't Work

An article in yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer says that the state's inspector general has found that, despite past problems, the South Jersey Transportation Authority has gotten its act together, ethically speaking. But go to the authority's News Clip page, and all it says is "Nothing to Report."…

January 5, 2010

The People Speak: Bruno Trial Jurors' Opinions

If citizens could once in their lives be a juror in a government ethics trial, we would have incredible ethics laws. This is the conclusion one comes to after reading, in an Albany Times-Union article, the comments of jurors in the trial of former NY senate majority leader Joseph Bruno for misuse o…

Transparency & Disclosure November 19, 2009

It Should Come As No Surprise When Government Counsel Advises the Individual (Joseph Bruno) Rather Than the Office

Update: November 20, 2009 (see below) The latest news from the federal trial of former New York state senate majority leader Joseph Bruno's is sadly not surprising. According to an Associated Press article yesterday, former senate legal counsel told Bruno to hand-deliver his financial disclosure fo…

November 10, 2009

Plain Language in NSW, Oz

New South Wales, Australia Premier Nathan Rees announces plain language reforms In an interview recently he said: "I want plain English to become an essential part of how the public sector does its business, every bit as essential as a financial impact statement." His statement at the opening of th…

Transparency & Disclosure October 24, 2009

A Very Short Rant on Financial Disclosure and Ethics Self-Regulation

It's always nice to see politicians provide evidence for the argument that ethics self-regulation doesn't work, but it's rare for it to happen in so public a way as occurred yesterday. According to an article in Roll Call, Rep. John Carter (R-TX), "the point man for Republicans seeking to strip Way…

September 2, 2009

Michigan Disclosure Proposal Doesn't Go Very Far, Locally Speaking

According to an article in the Detroit Free Press, Michigan's Attorney General is seeking stronger financial and gift disclosure requirements for state officials, and he wants these requirements to apply to local officials, as well. But there's a catch: they would only apply to local elected offic…

Conflicts of Interest August 17, 2009

Valuing Gifts, and Courtesies to an Office

Update below (Aug. 20, 2009) Is the value of a gift given to a government official its fair market value or what the official gets out of it? For example, if you give an official a sportscar worth $40,000 and he only drives it ten times a year, is its value $40,000 or the cost of renting a car ten …

Transparency & Disclosure July 31, 2009

Putting Financial Disclosure Information Online

Thanks to Texas Watchdog, "an independent, nonpartisan entity [that] serves as a government watchdog and training center where reporters, bloggers and activists of any stripe learn how to uncover waste, fraud and corruption in state and local governments," the financial disclosure forms of Houston'…

April 30, 2009

Municipal Ethics Task Force in CT Bows to Town Officials

Recently, the Connecticut Task Force on Municipal Ethics discussed a draft report. Neither in the report, nor in the discussion, is there anything about ethics training, the independence of ethics commissions, or financial disclosure. Advisory opinions were not included in the draft, but were added…

Subscribe to Disclosure