The second edition of the resource book <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/ethics%20book"><i>Local Government Ethics Programs</i></a> will be put up on the City Ethics website in the next few days. It is updated, improved, and expanded. One of the new features is an extensive list of Best Practices. Here is the list:<br><br>
<b>Basic Matters</b><br>

<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/opinion/sunday/coontz-beware-social-n…; target="”_blank”">In
this week's New York <i>Times Sunday Review</i> section, Stephanie Coontz
wrote</a> about "social nostalgia," that is, nostalgia about the
way society used to be. She cites a study of men with difficult
childhoods, done by the psychologist John Snarey, which I assume is

On April 30, the D.C. ethics board reached a settlement with a
council member (attached; see below), whereby he was admonished for
having "used the prestige of his office or his public position for
the private gain" of a company by influencing health department
personnel to leave the site of the business without issuing a notice
of closure, allowing the business to continue to operate for several
more hours.<br>
<br>
Some important issues are raised in this matter, including (1) the

In January, I wrote <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/ethics-reform-testimony-dc-and-tallah…; target="”_blank”">a
blog post</a> about the District of Columbia ethics board's first
public forum seeking recommendations for ethics reform. On April 17,
the ethics board published a report that makes recommendations for
improvements to the city's ethics program (attached; see below).<br>
<br>

<h4>“The real issue is who’s giving money and real transparency. We’re
going to do this in a way that’s above board. We’re each going to be
contributing our ethical and moral standards that we have been
living our lives by.”</h4><br>

<br>
It's here at last:  the first government ethics app (at least
that I know of). According to <a href="http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/04/smartphone-app-lets-…; target="”_blank”">a
Capitol Alert post on the Sacramento <i>Bee</i> website yesterday</a>, 

According to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/nyregion/business-integrity-commissio…; target="”_blank”">a
column in today's New York <i>Times</i></a> and a visit to the <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/bic/html/home/home.shtml&quot; target="”_blank”">New York

Phoenix has followed Chicago in taking a task force approach to
ethics reform. As in Chicago, the mayor selected the task force. The
Ethics Task Force, which according to <a>an

This week, San Antonio's mayor and city attorney proposed a number of reforms to the
city's ethics code and campaign finance regulations. I will deal
here only with the ethics reforms. A summary of the proposed reforms
and a red-lined copy of the ethics code are attached (see below).<br>
<br>