It was very refreshing to hear Ann Arbor council member Steven
Kunselman, in <a href="http://a2ethics.org/podcasts/city-local-ethics-podcast-series/getting-g…; target="”_blank”">an

When a mayor replaces an entire ethics commission, it usually means
that he is taking over control of the city's ethics program, to protect himself and his allies. This
doesn't appear to be the case in Chicago, where today Mayor Emmanuel
replaced ethics board members whose terms had ended or were about to
end, and whose other members had been asked to resign, according to

One of the most important ways of preventing ethical misconduct
usually does not appear in an ethics code, because it does not involve a
traditional conflict of interest. I am referring to non-legislative
roles played by local legislators, especially roles that enable them
to create a pay-to-play environment. These roles are played in the two
principal areas where ethical misconduct occurs:  procurement
and land use decisions.<br>
<br>
In past blog posts, I have focused on

According to <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/21563351&quot; target="”_blank”">an
article in last week's <i>Economist</i></a>, last year 22 local councils in
Italy were disbanded and taken over by the
national government due to alleged infiltration by organized crime.
This is an extreme way to deal with a poor local government ethics
environment. But it's a very difficult problem for a local government to deal with.<br>

It is assumed in government ethics enforcement that an official who
mishandles a conflict situation is solely responsible for her
misconduct. This assumption is rarely questioned. The official might
have received no training, or poor training. The official might not
have been encouraged to seek advice; in fact, she might not have had
access to professional ethics advice from anyone, or only from a
city attorney who was an important player from the other political
party. The official might not have been required to disclose her

According to <a href="http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Regretful-DiGiovann…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the San Antonio <i>Express-News</i> this week</a>, San
Antonio's deputy city manager is concerned about whether he mishandled a conflict situation. It involved his
participation on a bid review committee for a $300 million contract

According to <a href="http://www.newschannel5.com/story/19649529/conflict-of-interest-questio…; target="”_blank”">an
investigative article on Nashville's WTVF-TV site yesterday
evening</a>, a former property assessor had help from a
developer in disposing of her home and buying one from the
developer, and also undervalued nine of the developer's properties by a

An interesting case in Iowa raises questions about the purposes behind post-employment, or "revolving door," provisions, including whom they are
supposed to protect and why.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://muscatinejournal.com/news/local/gpc-pushes-back-and-so-does-its-…; target="”_blank”">an

<br>Read all about it! Local government ethics becomes a presidential
campaign issue! Yes, you heard that right. <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57520009-503544/romney-teacher-c…; target="”_blank”">According
to CBS News</a>, this very day presidential candidate Mitt Romney
said "the person sitting across the table from [a teachers union]

The reason I haven't written about George Anderson is that he has
done too much, and been too controversial, for me to get a handle on him. In other words, laziness. He
has been an ethics and non-ethics watchdog in Georgia for many years, filing
numerous ethics and other sorts of complaints both at the state and at the local level. He
heads an organization called Ethics in Government, which does not
seem to have a website.<br>
<br>
When an ethics watchdog organization was founded primarily, it