City Related

Even the most enthusiastic good government politicians often have a
serious blind spot:  themselves. They believe that everyone
else is into pay to play and selling out to big contributors. But
not them. They're only doing what's best for their city.  They
have only the community's best interests in mind. And sometimes the
community needs those big contributors, and who but he is best
situated to get them to open their wallets? However, the big
contributors don't have the same blind spot, so they don't want the

When it comes to local lobbying oversight, cities are falling like
flies. At least in Canada.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://metronews.ca/news/vancouver/1241504/vancouver-moves-to-establish…; target="”_blank”">an
article yesterday on the Vancouver, BC Metro News website</a>, the
city council voted unanimously to look into establishing a lobbying

I've written several posts about individuals who have created
fiefdoms (<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/bullying-head-local-fiefdom&quot; target="”_blank”">a
D.A</a>., <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/classic-fiefdom-and-problem-long-term…; target="”_blank”">a

According to <a href="https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2014/12/08/inside-city-hall-whats-behind-…; target="”_blank”">an
article yesterday on the Baltimore <i>Brew</i> website</a>, a
year ago Baltimore's mayor officiated at a wedding between two
individuals who lobby the city government. In Las Vegas, no less.<br>
<br>

Two big local ethics/election stories come from Contra
Costa, CA and Tallahassee, FL.<br>
<br>
<b>Ethics Reform Package Features a Different Sort of Public
Campaign Financing Program</b><br>
According to <a href="http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2014/11/04/voters-decide…; target="”_blank”">an
article this morning on the Tallahassee <i>Democrat</i>

<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/313&quot; target="”_blank”">The last time I
discussed</a> contingency fee arrangements in local government
contracting was 2007 (the focus then was on attorneys). <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/28/nyregion/new-york-city-agency-and-ven…; target="”_blank”">A

In the last few years, one of the biggest topics in the general area
of government ethics, including campaign finance, lobbying, and
transparency, has been the effect of huge campaign contributions by
corporations and billionaires, which has become increasingly doable pursuant
to a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions.<br>
<br>
These decisions do not appear to have had as much effect at the

The former chair of the Venice in Peril Fund wrote <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/sep/25/venice-devious-des…; target="”_blank”">a
disturbing piece for the September 25 issue of the <i>New York
Review of Books</i></a> about corruption in Venice. This
corruption derived largely from a major project:  the building of
flood protection barriers, known as MOSE. Although this project was

<b>Chicago's Legislative IG</b><br>
The battle continues in Chicago over government ethics authority and
funding. According to the cover letter to the legislative inspector
general's semi-annual report dated August 22, 2014 (attached; see
below), the IG's office has expended its 2014 budget and the city
council is not willing to provide it with more funds. The council
has also transferred campaign finance authority from the IG's office
back to the ethics board, over the opposition of both the IG and the

Ferguson, MO — where Michael Brown was recently killed by a police
officer, and the police department's first reaction was to protect
the officer and keep the facts secret — is an unusual case of a
local government where a scandal is likely to actually increase
rather than decrease citizen participation in government.<br>
<br>