This week, California governor Jerry Brown had to go back fifty
years to find someone who agreed with his view of government ethics
reform. According to <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_26635094/california-becomes-fi…; target="”_blank”">an
Ethics commissions appointed by local legislative bodies, mayors,
or county executives are often referred to as "independent
commissions." I don't believe that these commissions should be considered
"independent," because those who select the EC members are under the
members' jurisdiction and, in fact, are the people most likely to come before them. These EC members are perceived as biased toward
their appointing party, which is far from "independence."<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.voiceofoc.org/county/article_7fc1f7d2-3c3b-11e4-9d96-4374dd2…; target="”_blank”">an
article Sunday on the Voice of OC website</a>, the Orange County,
CA legislative body has drafted <a href="http://goo.gl/ubOZ21" target="”_blank”">a
In <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/08/us/as-2-go-free-joe-freeman-britt-a-d…; target="”_blank”">an article in the New York </a><i>Times</i> this
Monday</a>,
the Robeson County (NC) district attorney described his
predecessor's bullying ways, which are typical of those of an
individual who heads a local fiefdom:<blockquote>
In <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/09/05/1327323/-Why-this-former-Speci…; target="”_blank”">a
an op-ed in the <i>Daily Kos</i></a> last Friday, Janos Marton — special counsel to New York state's recent Moreland
<b>Chicago's Legislative IG</b><br>
The battle continues in Chicago over government ethics authority and
funding. According to the cover letter to the legislative inspector
general's semi-annual report dated August 22, 2014 (attached; see
below), the IG's office has expended its 2014 budget and the city
council is not willing to provide it with more funds. The council
has also transferred campaign finance authority from the IG's office
back to the ethics board, over the opposition of both the IG and the
Nepotism is a difficult topic to get a hold of. It is the most
generally accepted kind of ethical misconduct, most governments do
not keep records (or, at least, public records) of familial
relationships, and nepotism provisions are rarely enforced. For all
of these reasons, the news media do not give nepotism much coverage.
So in many governments, especially those with poor ethics
environments, nepotism is common.<br>
<br>
Kudos go to David Wickert of the Atlanta <i>Journal-Constitution</i>
The last thing the U.S. needs is another partisan good government
group. Unfortunately, according to <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/david-brock-citizens-for-responsi…; target="”_blank”">an article in <i>Politico</i> last week</a>, Citizens for
Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), an important ethics
watchdog at the federal level, has named David Brock as the chair of
There are several problems with the settlement the Massachusetts AG
reached last week with a lobbying firm that the AG alleged had
entered into an illegal contingency fee agreement with a hospital.
According to <a href="http://www.mass.gov/ago/news-and-updates/press-releases/2014/2014-08-15…; target="”_blank”">the
AG's press release</a>, the lobbying firm would be paid a
Ferguson, MO — where Michael Brown was recently killed by a police
officer, and the police department's first reaction was to protect
the officer and keep the facts secret — is an unusual case of a
local government where a scandal is likely to actually increase
rather than decrease citizen participation in government.<br>
<br>