I've written several posts about individuals who have created
fiefdoms (<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/bullying-head-local-fiefdom" target="”_blank”">a
D.A</a>., <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/classic-fiefdom-and-problem-long-term…; target="”_blank”">a
According to <a href="https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2014/12/08/inside-city-hall-whats-behind-…; target="”_blank”">an
article yesterday on the Baltimore <i>Brew</i> website</a>, a
year ago Baltimore's mayor officiated at a wedding between two
individuals who lobby the city government. In Las Vegas, no less.<br>
<br>
The principal value of lobbying, according to both lobbyists and
government officials, is the expert information lobbyists provide. The
view is often stated that, with the resources they have, government
officials could not effectively do their job without the expertise
they obtain from lobbyists.<br>
<br>
The public, however, has no idea how this information is used. When
it turns out that a lobbyist effectively wrote a bill, argument,
letter, or speech that an official presents as his own work, no
According to an article in the November 29 issue of <i>The
Economist,</i> when China banned gifts to government officials,
sales of the principal producer of baijiu, a sort of Chinese vodka,
fell 78% in just a year.<br>
<br>
The only sales that would likely go down if gifts were banned across
the board in the United States would be restaurant and golf club
sales. That is because petty bribery is less a problem here than the
ongoing reciprocal relationships between lobbyists and the
It's official: what differentiates us from chimpanzees is not
our intelligence, our ability to deal with the abstract, or our
ability to tell jokes. According to <a href="http://www.nonhumanrightsproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Appella…; target="”_blank”">the
decision of a five-member New York state appellate panel yesterday</a>,
Partial withdrawal from participation is not a sufficient cure for
an apparent conflict of interest. When there is any involvement, it
can be seen as providing preferential treatment, as being unfair.
Once again this is made clear, in the most controversial local
government problem of the year: a white police officer's
killing of a black man in Ferguson, MO.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.rockdalecitizen.com/news/2014/nov/11/stalemate-continues-ove…; target="”_blank”">an
article yesterday in the Rockdale <i>Citizen</a>,</i>
Rockdale County, GA's county commission is having a debate on how to
select its three-member ethics board and its alternates.
Unfortunately, it's a debate that is being waged with no reference
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 <a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/11/04/california-election-watch-2014-bay-…; target="”_blank”">the
KQED News website</a>.<br>
<br>
Two big local ethics/election stories come from Contra
Costa, CA and Tallahassee, FL.<br>
<br>
<b>Ethics Reform Package Features a Different Sort of Public
Campaign Financing Program</b><br>
According to <a href="http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2014/11/04/voters-decide…; target="”_blank”">an
article this morning on the Tallahassee <i>Democrat</i>
<p>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.