"I believe that an alderman's office is a political office," said
Chicago alderman Suarez, one of 50 aldermen to get their expense
allowances doubled last year, according to<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-chicago-aldermen-spend-16-…; target="”_blank”">
an article in the Chicago <i>Tribune</i></a>. Suarez, however, refused to use

Republican candidates in Cumberland County, in southern New Jersey
(pop. 150,000), are pushing for several ethics reforms, including some
fresh ideas.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/cumberland/article_acc44e…; target="”_blank”">an

Jacksonville's ethics commission continues to explore interesting and
valuable ideas, according to <a href="http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=528791&quot; target="”_blank”">an
article</a> this week in the Jacksonville <i>Financial News & Daily Record</i>.
At the first meeting of the commission's new procurement subcommittee,
loopholes in the bidding process were discussed.<br>
<br>

In May I wrote <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/745">a blog post</a> about a so-called ethics emergency in Corpus Christi,
declared by a lame-duck council at its last meeting. This so-called emergency was the excuse for pushing through ethics
reforms without running them by the city's ethics commission or allowing public discussion. The new
council quickly suspended the reforms, pending review by the ethics
commission.<br>
<br>

According to <a href="http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/1723410,CST-NWS-ethics19.article"…
article in yesterday's Chicago <span>Sun-Times</span></a>,
Illinois Gov. Quinn called the new ethics bill he signed a "landmark"
change to the state's political culture. However, Patrick Collins, whom
Quinn had named to chair the commission that recommended these ethics

"I have counseled many individuals and companies grappling with
investigations, but this is the first time I've provided this type of
advice to a municipality." When I saw this quotation in <a href="http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202433051829&quot; target="”_blank”">the <i>National Law Journal</i></a>, I thought, "Yeah, that's because municipalities aren't investigated, people
are."<br>

<b>Update - see below</b> (9/2/09)<br>
One of the biggest limitations on local government ethics codes can be
state ethics laws. In Connecticut, for example, state laws seriously limit how
much local ethics commissions can fine violators of an ethics code. In
fact, the language is so vague, many lawyers insist that local ethics
commissions can't fine at all. State legislators, most of whom are former local government legislators, don't want to let local ethics commissions get out of hand.<br>
<br>

<b>Update below</b> (Aug. 20, 2009)<br>
Is the value of a gift given to a government official its fair market
value or what the official gets out of it? For example, if you give an
official a sportscar worth $40,000 and he only drives it ten times a
year, is its value $40,000 or the cost of renting a car ten times a
year? If you give an official a ticket to a football game and she leaves
after the first half, is the value half the ticket or its full price?<br>
<br>

One of the principal reasons I have devoted myself to local government
ethics is that the ethical habits of government officials and politicians are usually formed at the local level.
Politicians who become accustomed to a poor local ethics environment
bring their values to state and federal government.<br>
<br>
The saddest side of this is that many politicians learn at the local
level that running on an anti-corruption platform is a good way to get

There's a lot of talk about the lack of government ethics in Albany,
New York State's capital, but not much about the state of government
ethics in the city of Albany itself. In July, the Albany <span>Times-Union</span> ran <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/ASPStories/Story.asp?storyID=816849&quot; target="”_blank”">a
long article </a>on the mayor and the police chief's relationship with