The big news in the government ethics world today is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/nyregion/governor-andrew-cuomo-and-th…; target="”_blank”">the
investigative piece in the New York <i>Times</i></a> about New
York governor Andrew Cuomo's interference in the work of the
Moreland Commission he created to investigate corruption in the

According to <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-voters-to-weigh-in-on-ant…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the San Francisco <i>Chronicle</i> last week</a>, Oakland's

According to <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/russia-bans-congressman-jim-moran…; target="”_blank”">an Associated Press article this weekend</a>, Jim Moran, a
congressman from Virginia, was banned from entering Russia
supposedly for a series of financial misdeeds. These supposed

<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/exclusive-speaker-melissa-mark-vive…; target="”_blank”">A
New York <i>Daily News</i> article yesterday</a> describes an
interesting conflict situation. At least one lobbying
firm has worn two hats in its relationship with the speaker of the
New York City council. One hat was that of a campaign and appointments consultant,

I keep thinking about the recent line of U.S. Supreme Court campaign
finance cases that limit corruption to "quid pro quo" situations. A
few months ago, I wrote <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/mccutcheon-decision-and-local-governm…; target="”_blank”">a
blog post</a> explaining that the Court's picture of campaign
finance as about political beliefs is not how things work at the

Is it appropriate for a mayor — especially a mayor in a city with
strict gift rules and a public campaign financing program that has
strict campaign contribution limits — to work with an organization
that lobbies the state on behalf of his policies and sponsors ads
and materials that support his views and, especially, celebrate his
successes?<br>
<br>
This is the situation in New York City, where Bill de Blasio, in his
first year in office, is being celebrated by an entity called

<a href="http://www.kingstonx.com/2014/07/14/editorial-another-look-maybe/&quot; target="”_blank”">An
excellent editorial yesterday by Dan Barton</a>, editor of the
Kingston (NY) <i>Times</i>, raises a few important issues relating
to local government ethics proceedings.<br>
<br>
According to Barton, Kingston's new ethics board dismissed a complaint

The Speech or Debate Clause of the U.S. Constitution protects
activities within the "legislative sphere" from being heard outside
the legislature, and prevents the introduction of evidence of
legislative activity in any such hearing. <a href="http://www.pointoforder.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/House-response-t…; target="”_blank”">A

Garbage is the principal regular point of contact between
individuals and their local government. If people are happy with
their garbage pickup, they are likely to be happy with their local
government. For this reason, smart high-level local government
officials make sure that garbage pickup is done well.<br>
<br>
In Chicago, the members of the board of aldermen wanted to be given
credit for garbage pickup. They also wanted to use it as a way to

According to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/local/wp/2014/06/27/fairfax-county-…; target="_blank">an
article last week in the Washington <i>Post</i></a><i>, </i>the
Fairfax County (VA) Attorney fired one of his office's assistant
attorneys because she was elected to the council of a city within the