<big><big>BY SUSAN COOPER EASTMAN</big><br>
<span>February 3, 2009</span><br>
</big>This cover story is reproduced with permission from Folioweekly
magazine<br>
See: <a href="http://www.folioweekly.com">www.folioweekly.com</a><br&gt;

<b>Update below</b> (August 19, 2009)<br>
Here's a recipe for conflicts of interest. Create a new kind of county
commission to hand out grant money. Require that commission members
include <span class="vitstorybody"><span class="vitstorybody">representatives
from public and private agencies that handle the very services the
grants are intended for. Stir until frothy.<br>
<br>

One of the biggest obstacles to ethics reform in some U.S. states and
Canadian provinces is the possibility of state enforcement of local
ethics. For example, in Connecticut, there has been talk for years at
the state level about either having state enforcement or state
requirements. Even though it has all been talk, and the towns and
cities have successfully talked it down, the same town and city CEOs
have said that it's silly to talk about local ethics reform when

Two months ago, I wrote <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/608&quot; target="”_blank”">a
blog entry </a>about the en masse resignation of the Jackson County
(MO) ethics commission, and said that this was a sign that things were
seriously wrong in that county. Little did I know.<br>
<br>

Lawyers are supposed to zealously represent their clients. After all,
Canon 7 of the ABA Code of Professional Responsibility says, "A lawyer should represent a
client zealously within the bounds of the law." This requirement applies as much to government lawyers as it
does to private lawyers, right?<br>
<br>
Actually, zealousness does not really have a place in the practice of government law. The limits on zealousness by government
lawyers was just confirmed by a New York lawyer

It's refreshing when an elected official attacks government ethics
head-on. This is what Tennessee state representative Willie "Butch"
Borchert did in an impromptu speech yesterday, according to <a href="http://www.wreg.com/sns-ap-tn-xgr--ethicscommission-borchert,0,4377566…; target="”_blank”">an
Associated Press report</a>.<br>
<br>
He wants to do away with the state ethics commission altogether,

Politics may be local for politicians, but is it for citizens? The <a href="http://ilcampaign.org/PDF/Jan09Poll.pdf&quot; target="”_blank”">2009 Joyce Foundation
Illinois Survey</a> shows that in January the people of Illinois were
more concerned about corruption in government than about the economy.
Last January only 49% of those polled were extremely concerned about
corruption; now 61% are (and 50% are extremely concerned about the

The most complicating (sic) part of conflicts of interest is the being
interested part. When one is interested in something, not necessarily
in a financial way, it can be very hard to get the emotional distance
necessary to analyze a conflict properly. In other words, it's hard for
many people to admit the possibility that they may have a conflict and
then to determine rationally what should be done about it.<br>
<br>
A case in point involves the village attorney of Mokena, IL.<br>
<br>

The ethics provision that is probably most consistently violated is the
one about political activity in city or county hall.<br>
<br>

One argument rarely made for effective government ethics programs is
that they will prevent government officials from being prosecuted for
"honest services fraud."<br>
<br>