Ethics Codes & Reform

Sometimes, those who write or amend local government ethics codes forget to make it clear exactly who is covered by an ethics code. Sometimes there is discussion about who should have to file annual disclosure statements, and sometimes there is discussion about whether volunteers should be covered.…

See update below Ethics is popular in Illinois right now, so popular that two mayoral candidates in the Village of Niles, a northwest suburb of Chicago (pop. 30,000), are putting it at the center of their campaigns. But it's not ethics as most of us like to think of it. This love of ethics doesn't …

Roland Burris's acceptance of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's offer of Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat is based on a willful, self-serving misunderstanding about the difference between ethics and law. Here is what Burris told MSNBC in a December 31 interview (video and transcript): I hav…

It's pop quiz time. Read the following ethics code provision and hypothetical, and answer the question that follows them. No public servant shall solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any thing of economic value as a gift or gratuity from any person or from any officer, director, agent, or emp…

Back in June, in the middle of a long blog entry on legislative immunity, I referred to the virtuous circle that includes both ethics laws and the Speech or Debate Clause, which provides legislators immunity from interference from the executive and judicial branches. I would like to focus on this v…

Cities across the United States are creating and expanding Ethics Commissions, Ethics Offices and Inspector Generals in order to fight corruption and establish higher ethical standards for their governments. I will be posting some of the best ideas from these programs on this site. If you have comm…

The DiMasi case, discussed in the most recent blog entry, is not the only ethics case in Massachusetts that has drawn a lot of attention. The result of a perception of increasing ethical misconduct has led the governor to appoint a new task force on public integrity, according to an editorial in to…

Back in May, I wrote about the conflict of interest problems in upstate New York local governments due to the development of wind farms in the area. This week, New York's Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, issued a Wind Industry Ethics Code to deal with these problems. Hats off to Cuomo for the idea, …

We don't know why the Summit County developer is running for a council seat (see the most recent blog entry), but we do know why a sheriff's sergeant in Rancho Murieta, California, is running for the Sacramento County Community Services District Board: to get off-duty sheriff's deputies to provide …

The New York Times has an excellent article today on Alan Greenspan in relation to the current financial crisis. It provides food for thought about government regulation at any level. Essentially, Greenspan believes that the cause of the crisis is Wall Street decisionmakers not acting honorably. Ho…