It would be really helpful if people could find recommendations for
ethics reform all in one place, but this rarely happens. Ethics task
forces and ethics commissions that ask for such recommendations from
good government groups, officials, and academics rarely make them
available to the public online. Collections of such recommendations
would be a useful resource both for those interested in government
ethics in the particular city or county, and for those elsewhere who
are considering ethics reform and looking for good ideas.<br>

It can never be said too often that the quality of a government ethics
code is meaningless. What matters is how the ethics
program actually works.<br>
<br>
Take Bridgeport, CT for example. It is the largest city in
Connecticut, with a population of 150,000. It is a poor city in a rich county, and it
has had a history of corruption, including the mayor's conviction on
federal corruption charges a decade ago.<br>
<br>

Government ethics proceedings are usually not very satisfying for
those involved. Individuals rarely get to tell the entire story from
their point of view. Nor do they profit from hearing how others saw the situation or experienced the events. The format for ethics proceedings is
similar to the criminal justice system, with charges, a prosecution,
witnesses, documents, and the ethics commission as jury. Or a
settlement is reached, the equivalent of a plea bargain, and no
story is told at all. Or no probable cause is found, and what

The musical <i>Fiorello</i>, about Fiorello LaGuardia, the mayor of New
York City from 1934 to 1945 known for cleaning up corruption, is
being revived later this month for the Encore! series at Lincoln
Center in New York.<br>
<br>
So it's a good occasion to share the lyrics of one of the
musical's most famous songs, "Little Tin Box" (see below). The song is the
imaginings of crooked politicians about how they would explain
their high-spending ways to a judge. The lyrics are by Sheldon

<br>
In memory of Albert O.Hirschman, an important economist and
political scientist who died last month, I want to apply some of the

<h4>“These are, as far as I’m concerned, the everyday things and
courtesies that are done in life.”</h4><br>

Is it enough for a local official to be "not guilty"? This is the
question that has been raised with respect to a Tamarac, FL city
commissioner who was found not guilty of bribery in December,
according to <a href="http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-01-02/news/fl-corruption-mayocol-…; target="”_blank”">a

<h4>“The remedy is he is no longer in our employ. So the next thing we
look at is: ‘Is there any harm to the city? Did the city lose money?
Did anybody steal anything?’ The answer to that is No.”</h4> <br>

The last Congress is known for doing very little, but a couple of
weeks ago it actually passed a bill that will have a serious effect on
local government ethics: <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s2170/text&quot; target="”_blank”">the

I'm a big supporter of making ethics commissions independent of
those over whom they have jurisdiction. Milton, Georgia and, now,
Forsyth County, Georgia have come up with an interesting approach to
ethics commission independence that has one good point and several
bad points.<br>
<br>
The <a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/news/forsyth-county-reconstructs-ethics-board-t…; target="”_blank”">recent