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>

Most people believe that lobbyists are guns hired to influence
government officials, and most lobbying laws reflect this by
applying only to those who lobby, not to the clients for whom they
lobby. Unlike most laws, lobbying laws focus on agents rather than
their principals.<br>
<br>
This problem extend beyond these jurisdictions. When business
executives who work in cities and counties that require only agents
to register as lobbyists seek work in jurisdictions that require

I believe that the best solution to the problem of having lobbyists and others seeking special
benefits from the government sitting on government
advisory boards is to get rid of these advisory boards.
Conflicts involving these boards are important because, although they are "merely
advisory," their recommendations are often accepted, and their
members are often selected (or seen to be selected) in order to reach a particular
conclusion. The membership of such boards is difficult for well-meaning officials to balance

The Stamford (CT) <i>Advocate</i>'s Angela Carella wrote <a href="http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Angela-Carella-In-ethical-…; target="”_blank”">an
excellent column on Saturday</a> about a post-employment (also
known as revolving door) situation in Stamford. Entitled "In Ethical Questions,
Appearances Matter," the column looks at the many problems with a

The logic of a California appellate decision on Monday, in the case of <i>St. Croix</i> v. <i>Superior Court</i> (A140308, July
28, 2014) (attached; see below), doesn't seem right to me. It skips steps. St. Croix is
the executive director of the San Francisco Ethics Commission, and
this matter involves a public records request for documents relating
to the commission’s regulations governing ethics complaints. Here's
how the court's logic goes:<br>
<br>

<a href="http://www.theaustinbulldog.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=artic…; target="”_blank”">An
interesting debate about lobbying and advisory groups can be found
on the Austin Bulldog website</a>. Late last week, the Bulldog
published an article about an ethics complaint filed by the

When city and county contractors and their lobbyists don't follow
the rules, it's difficult to catch them, because few cities have an
oversight office that investigates on its own initiative. Without
such a program, communities depend on federal and state criminal enforcers who focus on bribery and kickbacks.<br>
<br>
It is the FBI and a federal grand jury that did the job in Dallas County which, unlike the city of
Dallas, has no ethics program, just an aspirational code. In fact,

When a lobbying code requires that lobbyists report "specific
lobbying issues" or "the subjects on which they have lobbied," what exactly is required? The best
approach is to include more specific language in the disclosure
section, such as "information sufficient for an ordinary member of the public to identify the law or
resolution, contract, grant, regulation, real property or project,
rule, proceeding, board or commission determination, or other
matter."<br>
<br>

The District of Columbia's former chief administrative law judge
settled with the D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability
(BEGA) this week (the settlement agreement is attached; see below).
The misconduct she admitted to included her hiring of a business
partner without going through the standard hiring procedures, and
contracting with a company owned by the business partner's boyfriend