In the news | City Ethics

Ethics Codes & Reform January 4, 2009

Legal Does Not Mean Ethical

Roland Burris's acceptance of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's offer of Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat is based on a willful, self-serving misunderstanding about the difference between ethics and law. Here is what Burris told MSNBC in a December 31 interview (video and transcript): I hav…

October 7, 2008

Bailout Conflicts - The Treasury Speaks Softly and Carries a Small Stick

Update: Later in the day, according to a report in On the Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on the Treasury Secretary to strengthen the conflict of interest requirements discussed below. The bailout, pursuant to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, is being contracted out to fina…

September 19, 2008

The Economic Crisis - Public vs. Private Interests Once Again

The current economic crisis provides an important opportunity for government ethics professionals. It takes our eyes out of the trees -- individual government officials' conflicts of interest -- and lets us see the forest. Here's an excerpt from Senior Fellow Benjamin Barber's Huffington Post blog …

September 17, 2008

Stretching Conflicts to the Point of Absurdity

According to a lawsuit filed yesterday in Alaska by five Republican lawmakers to halt an investigation into Gov. Palin's dismissal of the state's public safety commissioner, elected politicians cannot investigate the actions of other elected politicians if they have a political bias, such as giving…

July 26, 2008

Wanted: Old Toothless Pals Only - The New Office of Congressional Ethics

The actual and perceived independence of an ethics commission is one of the most important aspects of a government ethics program. The U.S. House of Representatives finally decided to be overseen by an independent Office of Congressional Ethics. Hallelujah! And so who did the House appoint? The thr…

July 19, 2008

Rep. Charles Rangel and How to Be Above the Past, Appearances of Impropriety, and Annoying Things Like That

Talk about the appearance of impropriety is, as Congressman Charles B. Rangel of New York is quoted in a recent New York Times article as saying, “annoying.” Why should there be anything more than a decision of his peerless peers on the House Ethics Committee, guilty or not guilty? Appearances of p…

February 22, 2008

John McCain and Me, and You

Last year, soon after I contracted to act as Administrator to the New Haven Democracy Fund, a new public campaign financing program, the Executive Director of Connecticut Common Cause called me (I sat on the board of CT Common Cause). He said that he had been asked to write a report about the Fund …

February 14, 2008

Congress Makes a Pitch for Poor Ethics

Congressmen and -women sometimes act as if they didn't know the first thing about government ethics. Even when their actions are more in the public eye than usual, many of them unnecessarily, and selfishly, do the wrong thing. This week, Congress seems to be all about Roger Clemens, who is definite…

February 8, 2008

Pollsters and Transparency

An op-ed piece by Pollster.com editor Mark Blumenthal, in yesterday’s New York Times, brought up an interesting point about the transparency of political polls. I would like to take his piece a step further. Blumenthal feels that political polls provide too little background information, such as wh…

December 4, 2007

Government transparency website...

Found this site today: http://www.governmentdocs.org/ Their Description: www.governmentdocs.org was created to advance the values of open and accountable government. This site gives the public an unprecedented level of access to government documents by allowing users to browse, search, and review h…

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