Not one of the recent books in my ethics library cites Jane Jacobs’ 1993 work, <i>Systems of Survival: A Dialogue on the Moral Foundations of Commerce and Politics</i>. The citations I found on-line do not include any about government ethics. This is a big loss for the government ethics community, because Jacobs, who died a couple of years ago, gave us a lot to think about. And we’ve been missing out.

I would like to nominate the new film <i>Charlie Wilson’s War,</i> a Mike Nichols film starring Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Julia Roberts, for the City Ethics <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/Top10+Ethics+Films">Top Ten Ethics Films list</a>.

In a very interesting step recently, the "<i>Zionsville Town Council approved 5-0 Monday, Dec. 3, an expanded <a href="http://www.timessentinel.com/local/local_story_339174630.html">conflict of interest policy</a> that includes a clause urging council members to recuse themselves from any vote involving a campaign contributor.</i>"

It is natural for a current or former firefighter to be interested in serving on a fire commission, or a current or former teacher in serving on a school board. But is there an ongoing conflict of interest in doing so?

The question arose on the Milford, Connecticut school board recently. Three members are former school teachers who held union leadership positions.

<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/350">Click here to read the rest of this blog entry.</a>

It seems so mean-spirited to talk about the conflicts of interest that arise from politicians’ charitable activities, but <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/us/politics/20clinton.html?_r=1&adxnn… revelations about the Clinton Foundation</a> show, in big numbers, what happens so often, in smaller numbers, across the country.

<p><i>In this article published in the Orlando Sentinel, the "Consultant" referred to was <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/CarlaMiller">Carla Miller</a>, of CityEthics, in a workshop presented in the spring of 2007.</i></p>
<p>From: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/views/orl-ethics1707dec17,0…;

The Jacksonville Daily Record today <a href="http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=48985&quot; target="_blank">published a story</a> covering the first ethics training since the new code revisions were ratified by Council on Tuesday last week.
"<cite>Miller instructed the Council staff not to get too bogged down in the technicalities of the law, but to adopt an overall ethical mind set to help guide their decision-making.</cite>"

<h2>City staffers get ethics introduction</h2>
<p>From: <a href="http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=48985&quot; target="_blank">http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=48985</a><br />

See: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/12/071203-AP-aus-kyoto.htm…;
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd signed the instrument of ratification in his first act after being sworn in this morning.<br>The ratification will come into force in 90 days.</p>

Found this site today:
<br>http://www.governmentdocs.org/ <br>
Their Description: <i>www.governmentdocs.org was created to advance the values of open and accountable government. This site gives the public an unprecedented level of access to government documents by allowing users to browse, search, and review hundreds of thousands of pages acquired through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other public disclosure, or “sunshine,” laws.</i>"