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<img src="http://ndc.nu/img/los-angeless.jpg&quot; alt="" border="0" height="186" width="122">
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<h3><a name="TOC31"> Los Angeles City Ethics Commission </a></h3>
<p>The Los Angeles City Ethics Commission is a semi-independent agency authorized and funded by Los Angeles voters to administer and enforce a governmental ethics ordinance for the City of Los Angeles.

From the NY Times See the original online publication here: (note: may require membership)<br><a href="http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB091FF734550C708EDDAF0…;

<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/"><img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/logoprinter.gif&quot; alt="The New York Times" align="left" border="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"></a><br><br><br>

<p class="header2"> Published Winter 2005/2006 </p>
<h3>Times are Changing for the Better in our Region </h3>

I would like to hear how many people have had similar experiences to the one I will describe below, and what people think should be done in response. It concerns conflicts of interest, and the way a discussion of them within the context of a particular possible instance can so easily be turned into a personal, emotional issue, undermining the public's view of the importance of dealing with conflicts.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court delivered a blow to municipal government employee rights in its decision in <a href="http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/05pdf/04-473.pdf">Garcetti et al v. Ceballos.</a>

Terry L. Price's new book, <i>Understanding Ethical Failures in Leadership</i> (Cambridge University Press, 2006), provoked in me a great deal of thinking about what is behind the ethical failures of elected and appointed municipal officials. I will be talking in terms of officials, but Price speaks only in terms of leaders in general, with an emphasis on governmental leaders.

<H2>Creating ethics code takes time, expert says</H2>
<P>Carla Miller, an ethics officer for Jacksonville, Fla., and a former federal prosecutor, tells city officials, "You are in the upper echelon because you are at least struggling with it."</P>
<P>01:00 AM EDT on Friday, May 19, 2006</p>
<P><B>BY CATHLEEN F. CROWLEY<BR>Journal
Staff Writer</B></P>

<a href="http://miamidade.gov/wps/portal&quot; target="_blank">
<img src="http://ndc.nu/ce/img/miami-beach.jpg&quot; alt="Miami - South Beach" border="0" height="119" width="586"></a>

I am interested in getting some feedback on this point:
In a recent incident, there was perhaps no legal issue, but there was an undeniable perception that something unethical had occurred. What are your views on the thin red line between these points (i.e. "legal" and "perceived as unethical")

Should we try to step up to the plate and keep to the high moral ground where we even avoid the perception of unethical behaviour ?

How can we do this without moving far from what the average elected official can think with ?