This is the first of a series of looks at the ethics programs of
smaller cities, towns, and counties. These local governments have
the resources to create an independent, comprehensive ethics
program, but they rarely do. It is valuable to look at both the good ideas and the bad ideas
in the programs they have chosen to create.<br>
<br>
I will start with <a href="http://www.leaguecity.com/&quot; target="”_blank”">League City,

<h4>“[With respect to ethics,] I always say the law is the floor, not
the ceiling.”</h4><br>
—Judy Nadler, senior fellow in government ethics at the
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, and
author of <a href="http://www.scu.edu/ethics-center/ethicsblog/herhonor.cfm">the

According to <a href="http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-09-12/news/os-malcom-thompson-…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the Orlando <i>Sentinel</i></a> last week, the Florida
Commission on Ethics found probable cause that the Osceola County
Clerk of the Court "[used] his position to intimidate [his office's]

It took a law student doing a summer job, but there is finally confirmation of what I
have been saying for a long time:  normal people do not
understand the word "interest" as it is commonly used by lawyers in
the government ethics context. It was for this reason that I rarely
use the word "interest" in my book <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/ethics%20book&quot; target="”_blank”"><i>Local Government Ethics Programs</i></a>.<br>

Local government ethics can quickly become an ugly circus when officials don't really understand it. A good example occurred in
Royal Oak, Michigan last week, when a city commissioner who had
recently pointed out a legitimate conflict situation involving a fellow commissioner
took an "ethics pledge" at a commission meeting, without any warning, and then asked that
the commissioners agree to take the pledge at the beginning of every

Many ethics codes expressly state that government officials and
employees may not allow the use of city stationery for any purpose
other than city business. The principal goal of this rule is
to prevent officials from using city stationery for personal
purposes, such as campaigns, business transactions, and charitable
solicitations. The rule is part of the more general prohibition of the misuse
of city resources and of the city's power and reputation as the manager
of the community.<br>
<br>

According to <a href="http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/backpedal-replaces-…; target="”_blank”">Dan
Lett's column in the Winnipeg <i>Free Press</i></a> yesterday, when a
conflict of interest issue arises with respect to Winnipeg's mayor,
his first response is to shrug his shoulders. If that works, that's
the end of the matter.<br>
<br>

One of the wonderful things about local government ethics is that
every mayor or county executive feels qualified to act as if he was
establishing the first local government ethics program ever. It's
sort of like choosing what will go in a bento box, except that there
are no rules (e.g., only one sushi roll, or you've got to have miso or the clear
soup).<br>
<br>
A new bento box is being put together in the infamous Prince

<br>This second of two posts on Michael Sandel's new book, <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=06-54FCTQ9AC&quot; target="”_blank”"><i>What Money
Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets</i></a> (Farrar Straus, 2012),
includes a few fascinating takes on different aspects of government ethics, including
preferential treatment, municipal marketing, skyboxes, and the sensitive topic of inappropriate
incentives.<br>

Now that I am no longer administrator of the New Haven Democracy
Fund, a public campaign financing program, I can once again write
about ethics issues that arise in New Haven. An interesting issue
arose when, according to <a href="http://nhregister.com/articles/2012/09/10/news/new_haven/doc504e9eb75e7…; target="”_blank”">an article in Monday's New Haven <i>Register</i></a>, a member of the city's