<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/nyregion/22tickets.html&quot; target="”_blank”">An
article</a> deep in the first section of this Sunday's New York <span>Times</span> presents an interesting
ethical dilemma. In New York State, it used to be common for state
troopers and local police officers to negotiate, effectively plea
bargain, at the courthouse with people they'd given tickets to. And

<h1>COVER STORY</h1>
<p>Recently Susan Eastman from the Folio Weekly wrote the lead article for that week on Carla's activities in the City of Jacksonville role as Ethics Officer.</p> img.MyImage { border: 1px solid darkblue; margin: 0pt 0pt 1em 1em; padding: 0.25em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); }

What could provide a better education for local government ethics
practitioners than reading through a greatly expanded <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/conflicts/downloads/pdf2/enf%20docs/Enforcement…; target="”_blank”">261-page list of all the cases the New York City
Conflicts of Interest Board has decided or settled from 1992 through last week</a>? The
ethics provisions may not be the same as everywhere, but the problems

Agreeing on the local government budget is the most important thing
that the government does every year, because it affects every
department and agency. But with the exception of the big issues of the
year, it's a pretty arcane process often accomplished behind closed
doors. Thus, it provides excellent opportunities for unethical conduct,
very little of it dealt with in ethics codes.<br>
<br>

A city full of casinos has no need for an ethics board, right? Well,
according to <a href="http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/180/story/404724.html&quot; target="”_blank”">an

<i>Update below:</i><br>
<br>
The Internet has been around for some time now, and yet local
government officials still get away with saying things like, <span>“If you have a better process or procedure [than
having the city council enforce the ethics code], I would like to hear
about it.”<br>
<br>

<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/business/17muni.html&quot; target="”_blank”">An
article in yesterday's New York <span>Times</span></a>
points to yet another clever end run around ethics laws involving
municipal bonds. Bond underwriters are not allowed to make campaign
contributions, to prevent a pay-to-play environment. However, financial advisers, the people who hook local

Check out <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20090214_Karen_Heller__Fumo_s_g…; target="”_blank”">this excellent look</a> at Vincent J. Fumo, a Pennsylvania state senator who "made no distinction between the personal and the political." Of special interest is his intimidating treatment of his staff.<br>
<br>

<p class="MsoNormal">Here’s a new, foolproof way for an elected official to make
some money on the side: loan money to your campaign, charge it a lot of
interest, and then pay the loan principal off slowly, over a number of
years.</p>

<p class="MsoNormal">Perks that public officials give themselves should be
monitored as carefully as gifts, campaign contributions, and relationships with
contractors. But they are not. And they’re usually easy to hide.</p>