A Comparative Look at Cities' Ethics Programs from the City of Austin
I recently discovered that, in May, the Austin's Office of the City
Auditor did <a href="http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/auditor/downloads/as08103.pdf" target="”_blank”">an
extensive report </a>on the city's ethics program, and compared it
with 16 comparable American cities (Arlington (TX), Dallas, El Paso,
Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Kansas City
The Mother of All Ethical Hiring Questionnaires
One of the most important elements of any government ethics program
is ethical hiring. Ethical hiring lowers the possibility of hiring people
with serious conflicts of interest not only by being careful about the
selection process, but also by sending a clear message that conflicts
are serious business and must be disclosed even before an official is hired. Unethical people will find the hiring process, and the thought of working for people who would put them through it, unacceptable and will not
apply.<br>
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A Serious Sort of Local Government Preferential Treatment Is Before the Supreme Court Today
<i>See update below</i><br>
A central element of government ethics is that preferential treatment is bad.
Preferential treatment is bad when it involves favoring officials' businesses or
family members over other businesses and individuals. Preferential treatment is
even bad when it involves officials' favorite charities. And preferential treatment
is especially bad when it involves officials' religions.<br>
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What makes me say that this is especially bad? Because it's in the
Redistricting by Elected Officials as Conflict of Interest
California's Proposition 11 raises an interesting conflict of interest
issue for local governments whose council members
represent districts. Proposition 11 is <span></span>"a plan to set up a 14-member
citizens commission to draw district boundaries for state Senate,
Assembly and Board of Equalization seats. State lawmakers currently
have that power."<br>
An Ethics Commission Recusal When a Political Party Brings a Complaint
While we're in Nevada, there's another interesting case before the
state's ethics commission that has ramifications for local government
ethics. According to <a href="http://www.lvrj.com/news/27047149.html" target="”_blank”">an
article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal</a>, a probable cause hearing
was to be conducted by one Democratic and one Republican commission
member. When it turned out that the case had been brought by the
Nevada Legislature Follow Louisiana's Example in Suing to Remove Themselves from Ethics Commission Jurisdiction
It's only been a few months since <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/450" target="”_blank”">the Louisiana state court
decision</a> that applied the constitutional Speech and Debate Clause
to remove state legislators from the state ethics commission's
jurisdiction, and already <a href="http://www.lvrj.com/news/28279454.html" target="”_blank”">a similar case</a> has
The Conflicts of Holding an Elected Local Position and a State Job
According to <a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_county/bal-charter1106…; target="”_blank”">an
article in yesterday's Baltimore <span>Sun</span></a>,
the Baltimore County Council narrowly failed in its attempt to change
the county charter to allow council members to work for the state of
Maryland. Five of seven council members voted for the charter amendment
Sometimes Recusal Is Not Enough (and a City Attorney Goes Where Lawyers Should Not Tread)
According to <a href="http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/localnews/stories/DRC_Bur…; target="”_blank”">an
article in today's Denton (TX) Record-Chronicle</a>, the Denton (pop.
106,000) council voted 4-2, with the mayor recusing himself, to give
the city's tax collection contract to the mayor's law firm (he is one
of two partners in the four-lawyer firm).<br>
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A Critique of a New Industry-Local Government Ethics Code in New York
Back in May, <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/432" target="”_blank”">I wrote</a>
about the conflict of interest problems in upstate New York local
governments due to the development of wind farms in the area. This
week, New York's Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, issued a Wind Industry
Ethics Code to deal with these problems. Hats off to Cuomo for the
idea, although not for the execution.<br>
Speech and Debate Clause Used to Shield Legislators from Public Integrity Investigations
Back in June, I did <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/450">a
blog entry</a> on the implications for local governments of a Louisiana
decision that applied the Speech and Debate Clause to ethics
investigations and decisions, effectively preventing state ethics
commissions from investigating or enforcing ethics laws against state
legislators, even if they voted for the ethics provision involved.<br>
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