making local government more ethical

You are here

Robert Wechsler's blog

Robert Wechsler
According to an article Sunday on the Voice of OC website, the Orange County, CA legislative body has drafted a response to the second grand jury...
Robert Wechsler
In an article in the New York Times this Monday, the Robeson County (NC) district attorney described his predecessor's bullying ways, which are typical of those of an individual who heads a local fiefdom:
“He is a bully, and that’s the way he ran this office. People were afraid of him. Lawyers were afraid of him. They were intimidated...
Robert Wechsler
In a an op-ed in the Daily Kos last Friday, Janos Marton — special counsel to New York state's recent Moreland Commission on state-level corruption — makes an excellent point about one of the problems involved in the criminal enforcement of government ethics :
Robert Wechsler
Chicago's Legislative IG
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...
Robert Wechsler
Nepotism is a difficult topic to get a hold of. It is the most generally accepted kind of ethical misconduct, most governments do not keep records (or, at least, public records) of familial relationships, and nepotism provisions are rarely enforced. For all of these reasons, the news media do not give nepotism much coverage. So in many governments, especially those with poor ethics environments, nepotism is common.

Kudos go to David Wickert of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution...
Robert Wechsler
The last thing the U.S. needs is another partisan good government group. Unfortunately, according to an article in Politico last week, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), an important ethics watchdog at the federal level, has named David Brock as the chair of its board, and Brock has announced that the organization...

Pages