Local governments often give special recognition to individuals and
organizations. It's part of promoting the good works that are being
done in the community. But it is also, of course, a form of
preferential treatment. For every individual and organization that
is recognized for good works, there are many others that are not
recognized.<br>
<br>
If each high-level official could provide his own special
recognition to individuals and organizations in the community, then

One of the most damaging kinds of preferential treatment is one that
is hard to pin on any one individual:  public works work done
for some, but not for others, or done for some before being done for
others. Whether or not this is done in any particular city or
county, people talk about it, speculating that it is done, talking
about things they've seen and heard. It's an important part of the
perception that local government is run for those in government and

An ethics bill in the District of Columbia, sponsored by council
member Muriel Bowser, went quickly through committee and was passed
by the council, with only one dissenting vote, on December 20 (<a href="http://www.dccouncil.us/files/user_uploads/event_testimony/ethics_final…; target="”_blank”">the

To commemorate the death of Václav Havel, here are some
quotations from his work that are relevant to government ethics:<br>
<br>
"The prerequisite for everything political is moral. Politics really
should be ethics put into practice."<br>
<br>
“Even a purely moral act that has no hope of any immediate and
visible political effect can gradually and indirectly, over time,
gain in political significance.” <br>
<br>
Living in the Truth:  "A person who has been seduced by the

Henry Adams' 1880 novel <i>Democracy</i> is a must-read for those
interested in government ethics. It's also a first-rate novel, full
of wit, excellent writing, and a good portrayal of post-Civil War
Washington. <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2815&quot; target="”_blank”">It's
available free from Project Gutenberg</a>, in six e-book formats.<br>
<br>

The creation of an ethics task force is a popular way for local
government leaders to pursue ethics reform. It provides the
appearance of community involvement and independence, and it means
that reform ideas are not something to be imposed by a mayor on
council members and other officials, which can cause a great deal of
resentment.<br>
<br>
Atlanta's Mayor Franklin chose this route in 2002, as did
Philadelphia's Mayor Nutter in 2008. One difference is that Franklin

Below is the text of a talk I gave at the Council on Governmental
Ethics Laws conference this week. Due to time limitations, I was not
able to share this entire text, so even those who heard the talk may
want to read this and see what they missed. For those who have been following my posts on legislative immunity, this talk not only brings together a lot of information, but also adds a section on how much of a misnomer "absolute" legislative immunity is.<br>
<br>

According to <a href="http://www.northjersey.com/news/134479448_Gary_Martin_files_an_ethics_c…; target="”_blank”">an
article in Parsippany (NJ) <i>Life</i></a>, a Parsippany school board
member filed an ethics complaint against himself with the state's

Here's the situation. There is a state ethics program that applies
to local governments, and an ethics issue relating to a local law
arises. There is no local ethics commission to enforce the local
law, so what happens?<br>
<br>
This is the situation in Cincinnati. The issue involves a charter
provision that prohibits city funds from being disbursed for the
purpose of a political campaign. This is usually an ethics matter
(misuse of city property), but since there is no ethics commission

Imagine this story. A mayor calls a group of local contractors and
developers to a closed meeting on furthering economic growth in the city. The
guests are given a welcome pack, and
in the welcome pack is a plain brown, unmarked envelope. The
mayor ran on a platform of stopping corruption, but the
contractors and developers have seen this happen before.
Politicians are all the same, they think.<br>
<br>
During the meeting, the mayor asks her guests to open the