Applicant Disclosure, and the Difference It Makes
The two best defenses against dealing responsibly with a conflict are
that the local government attorney told me it was okay, and I didn't
know there was a conflict. The first can be dealt with by getting the local government
attorney out of the government ethics picture. But the second requires
something few local government ethics codes require: applicant
disclosure.<br>
<br>
Ethics Idol
It's not easy to make ethics training enjoyable, so it's good to see how other people have tried. According to <a href="http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=209480118" target="”_blank”">an
article in </a><span><a href="http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=209480118" target="”_blank”">Human
First Big Public Pension Investment Settlement
“If Boss Tweed were alive today, he would be a placement agent.” So said New York's attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, announcing a settlement with the Carlyle Group, by which the Carlyle Group, an outside investment manager for many government pension funds, will no longer hire placement agents to get public pension business and will greatly limit its officers' and employees' campaign contributions to anyone involved with public pensions (according to an article in today's New York Times).
An Ethics Complaint to Bring Some Transparency to a Deal
<b>Updates below</b> (latest on August 11, 2009)<br>
There's an interesting situation in Colorado Springs. According to <a href="http://www.gazette.com/articles/city-53971-mayor-marshall.html" target="”_blank”">an
Rhode Island Oral Arguments: On Inherent Conflicts in the Ethics Process
Yesterday, the Rhode Island Supreme Court held oral arguments on the
appeal of the RI legislative immunity decision. I want to focus on two
important issues that arose in the oral arguments, according to <a href="http://www.projo.com/news/content/SUPREME_COURT_ETHICS_05-14-09_BLEC7F3…; target="”_blank”">an
An Ethics Emergency in Corpus Christi?
<b>Update below</b><br>
An ethics emergency was declared in Corpus Christi on Tuesday,
according to <a href="http://www.kiiitv.com/news/local/44895897.html" target="”_blank”">an
article</a> on the KIII TV website. During the final meeting of the
council before the council membership changes post-election, the
Ethics Commissions: Independence and Managing Staff
<b>See Update Below</b><br>
The accusations made by New York's Inspector General that the executive
director of New York's Commission on Public Integrity leaked
information about an investigation to a close associate of the target of the investigation (the governor) are very upsetting. But there are
two important lessons to be learned here.<br>
<br>
One, ethics commissions should be as independent as possible, so that
when such things occur, it is clear that they are personal rather than
Clear Evidence of How Dealing Irresponsibly with a Conflict Can Undermine the Public Trust
One great thing about the Internet is that it provides a clear picture
of how people respond to officials who do not deal responsibly with
their conflicts of interest, and how such irresponsible actions can
undermine people's trust in government.<br>
<br>
Jackson County Legislators Abandon Promise to Make Themselves Subject to New Ethics Code
The word from Jackson County (MO) last week was that the county
legislature was "close to
revising the county’s ethics code to include them under its rules,"
according to <a href="http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/18345" target="”_blank”">an
Truth Is Too Slippery, and Too Precious, A Thing to Enforce
The biggest thing missing from ethics codes is lying. Everyone agrees
that a government official or employee who lies lacks integrity, but
ethics codes almost never prohibit this.<br>
<br>
It isn't that lying is okay, it's just very hard to enforce. Defending
a lie leads to more lies and other forms of dishonesty. It can get really
ugly.<br>
<br>