The big news in local government ethics yesterday was the
publication of the final report of Quebec's Charbonneau Commission,
which investigated bid rigging in the Montreal area, involving not
only government officials and contractors, but also the Mafia and
Hells Angels (see <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/bid-rigging-organized-crime-and-state…; target="_blank">my

A Portland, OR mayoral candidate made an interesting pledge in
September, according to <a href="http://www.pamplinmedia.com/pt/9-news/273725-149550-wheeler-challenges-…; target="_blank">an

<b>“If you hold a tiger by the tail, you have a difficult choice to
make: Do you let go or not? It’s not a good thing to alienate any
legislative leader.”</b><br>
<br>
—Richard Runes, lobbyist for Glenwood Management, a large New York
state real estate developer that allegedly gave tax work to a law
firm that then made undisclosed payments to the state's Assembly
Speaker, who had allegedly recommended the law firm. The quote
refers to continuing the use of this law firm, knowing that if it

<b>“I think people should know right from wrong, and if folks are going
to do something they’re not supposed to, they’re going to do it. If people are calling up commissioners at night on their personal cellphones, I have no idea about it. … If I knew something
was going on, I would go directly to (County Attorney) David
Escamilla.”</b> <br>
—Travis County, TX (Austin) Purchasing Agent Cyd Grimes.
Travis County has no lobbying law.<br>
<br>

Several of the women who accused Bill Cosby of sexual misconduct
toward them have filed defamation suits, based on his conduct and,
especially, on the conduct of his attorneys, who not only stated
Cosby's denial of sexual misconduct, but also went on the attack
against the accusing women.<br>
<br>
This situation reminds me of what sometimes happens when government
officials are accused of ethical misconduct. They and their
attorneys do not stop at denials. They insist that they are the

In some counties, when a company seeks small-business or women- or
minority-owned business designation for a county contract, this
designation also applies to the municipalities within the county.
Why can't the same sort of thing apply to lobbying? Tampa council

I have all but called for prohibiting mayoral golf tournaments and similar pet nonprofit events,
because they are an unnecessary form of pay to play that is legal primarily
because they help good causes in the community. China, which tends
to take things too far, has gone extremely far in the latest order

In <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/files/Lobbying-Chapter-Robert-Wechsler.htm&qu…; target="_blank">my chapter on local lobbying</a>, I argue that even quarterly
disclosure of lobbying activities is not sufficiently timely and
that lobbyists' disclosures should be supplemented by the

Seattle's public campaign financing <a href="http://honestelectionsseattle.org/what-is-initiative-122/&quot; target="_blank">Initiative
I-122</a> passed easily on Tuesday. It should prove to be an
excellent experiment in campaign finance vouchers, an idea that has
been batted about at the federal level, as well.<br>
<br>
Here's how it works. Each election cycle (two years) the city's

Considering that it reflects a typical approach to lobbying, it is
valuable to look at the language of a resolution to improve
Austin's lobbying oversight program (attached; see below). It is
also valuable to consider the opposition to this resolution by a
coalition of local architects, engineers, and contractors, according
to <a href="http://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2015/10/groups-organize-opposition…