If you have a city car, why bother having your own? If you have a
county cellphone, why bother having your own? If you have an honor system, why bother honoring it?<br>

In Bellingham, Massachusetts, according to <a href="http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x676814177/Moderator-says-he-quit-…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the Milford Daily News</a>, a town meeting moderator whose
firm was also town attorney resigned as moderator when his firm was
replaced as town attorney. He did this, he said, not out of spite, but
because he would now represent clients before town boards and

<i>Update: Later in the day, according to <a href="http://onthehillblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/pelosi-calls-on-paulson-to-st… report in On the Hill</a>, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on the Treasury Secretary to strengthen the conflict of interest requirements discussed below.</i><br>
<br>
The bailout, pursuant to the Emergency Economic
Stabilization Act of 2008, is being contracted out to financial

<i>Updated Oct. 10, 2008; see final three paragraphs</i><br>
<br>
New York City is in a crisis. But its mayor and 2/3 of its City Council
will have to leave office due to term limits imposed by referendum in
the 1990s.<br>
<br>
Mayor Bloomberg wants to get rid of term limits, and Ronald Lauder, the billionaire who backed the term limits referenda campaigns, wants them suspended for the 2009 election, due to the financial crisis and its devastating effects on New

"I just don't see it that there would be any motivation in such that
people would be trying to evade Freedom of Information
responsibilities."<br>
<br>
--Thomas Mooney, attorney for firm that represents numerous school
districts and municipalities in Connecticut, regarding a recent growth

When does an interest become an interest? When an official starts
thinking about entering into a contract? When she starts negotiating
the contract? When she agrees on the details? When she actually signs
the contract? Or is this not really the question to focus on?<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/129576&quot; target="”_blank”">an article in

Sometimes a conflict of interest can help a community save money. An
official with a relationship to a company might be able to negotiate a
better deal for his town, as long as his company gets the business and
the credit. But is this legitimate, and even if it is, how should it be
handled?<br>

Sometimes it's very difficult for a government official to deal with a
conflict of interest involving a member of his or her immediate family.
The common approach to ethics is to assume that an official will favor
a family member, but sometimes an ethics law can take an official out
of the uncomfortable position of having to reject a family member. And
sometimes the situation with a family member can have elements of both.<br>
<br>

A troubling <a href="http://www.kmov.com/video/index.html?nvid=285793&shu=1&quot; target="”_blank”">KMOV
television news report</a> from Missouri (yes, another story from
Missouri) has caught fire on right-leaning blogs. A self-styled Obama
Truth Squad has been formed in Missouri, consisting of city and county
prosecutors and sheriffs, who intend to set the record straight in

A year and a half ago, I <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/234&quot; target="”_blank”">started
a series of blog entries</a> on logical fallacies and their use in
municipal politics. Logical fallacies are pseudo-arguments that
consciously or unconsciously attempt to falsely persuade or manipulate
people. They treat people as means rather than as ends, manipulating
their thoughts, their feelings, their prejudices, their loyalties for