Ethics Reform
Tallahassee Referendum
Robert Wechsler
Huffington Post article on the 11/4 referendum...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/04/tallahassee-anti-corruption_n_…
Oakland Ethics Reform Initiative Passes
Robert Wechsler
I left out one big local ethics/election story from my blog post yesterday: the
approval of an excellent ethics reform initiative in Oakland, with
an approval percentage of 72%, according to the
KQED News website.
For a description of the referendum, read my July blog post.
For a description of the referendum, read my July blog post.
Tallahassee, FL Passes Ethics Reform Referendum
Robert Wechsler
This was a project that was helped by Represent.US and supported by citizen groups from right to left. I worked on the drafting of the referendum language. Here is today's press release from Represent.US: On Nov. 4th, 2014, voters in Tallahassee, Florida, made history by approving the first city Anti-Corruption Act in the United States by an overwhelming 2 – 1 margin. A small but dedicated group of progressives, conservatives, and independents put aside their differences to wage a historic battle against corruption in their community, and they won.
A Call for Academics to Provide Assistance to Government Ethics Programs
Robert Wechsler
I read something very exciting today in the April 1 newsletter of
the Ethics Section of the American Society for Public
Administration. In a short essay entitled "Living in Glass Houses:
Ethics Commissions in the United States," Stuart C. Gilman, who has
had an illustrious career both in academia and on the front lines of
ethics and anti-corruption efforts, wrote the following:
I believe it is time for the ethics section to become more activist by encouraging targeted research or an ASPA commission to look into what makes ... ethics commissions effective. ...
Good News from Florida Legislative Leaders
Robert Wechsler
After ripping apart one Florida ethics "reform" bill, it's nice to
be able to say that Florida's legislative leaders are planning to
do some good things this year. According to an
Integrity Florida press release today, the senate and house
leaders have committed themselves to do the following:
Government Ethics and the Limits of Mental Bandwidth
Robert Wechsler
Sendhil Mullainathan's new book Scarcity:
Why Having Too Little Means So Much (Times Books) has been
getting a lot of attention lately. Although I haven't read it yet, I
was intrigued by Cass
Sunstein's review of the book in the September 26 issue of the New
York Review of Books. Sunstein focuses on the idea of
bandwidth as applied to the human mind.
Gifts to Officials' Family Members
Robert Wechsler
Many major cities do not prohibit gifts from those seeking special benefits from the city government (restricted sources) to
family members of city officials. Such a prohibition may seem a stretch,
at least theoretically. How can a government interfere in the gifts given to an official's family members? Consider this situation, from 2011, which recently became
public.
Quote of the Day
Robert Wechsler
“In Albany, they’re really, really good at coming up with something that looks like reform, and that they tout as reform, but really falls short.”
An Ethics Code in a Charter
Robert Wechsler
In this, the third blog post on the Colorado ethics commission
situation, I would like to look at the problems that can arise from
placing an ethics code in a constitutional document, either a
charter or, as in the Colorado case, the state constitution.
Will New Jersey Improve Its Local Government Ethics Program?
Robert Wechsler
New Jersey has one of the oddest approaches to local government ethics. Like several states, including Massachusetts, California, and Florida, a state ethics program has jurisdiction over local officials. But unlike other states, the state ethics program is not run by the state ethics commission. It is run by the Department of Community Affairs.