The former chair of the Venice in Peril Fund wrote <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/sep/25/venice-devious-des…; target="”_blank”">a
disturbing piece for the September 25 issue of the <i>New York
Review of Books</i></a> about corruption in Venice. This
corruption derived largely from a major project:  the building of
flood protection barriers, known as MOSE. Although this project was

An essay of mine has appeared in <a href="http://www.mesharpe.com/mall/results1.asp?ACR=pin&quot; target="”_blank”">the new
issue of the journal <i>Public
Integrity</a>,</i> a special issue entitled "Changing of the
Guard: The 75th American Society for Public Administration
Anniversary Symposium: Visions and Voices of Ethics in the
Profession" (Fall 2014, Vol. 16, No. 4). Since the journal is

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&quot; 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