Poor Ethics Code Language

Are those who draft local government ethics codes unusually
eccentric? Unusually clever? Or just lazy? Whichever it is, they don't
seem to consider best practices, or even the practices of better
ethics programs. Across the U.S.A., ethics code drafters seem to pull many of their provisions
out of a hat. And as with Rocky the flying squirrel, sometimes they
pull out a rabbit, sometimes a rhino, and sometimes Bullwinkle the
moose.<br>
<br>
The inspiration for this mini-rant is <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/editorials/ci_25824831/toughen-up-denvers-eth…; target="”_blank”">a
Denver <i>Post</i> editorial this week</a> about the need to fix
the city's gift provision, which contains the following rule:<blockquote>

No more than a total of four meals, tickets, or free or reduced
price admissions may be accepted from the same donor in any calendar
year, regardless of the value</blockquote>

"Regardless of the value" means that the meals and tickets can be
worth any amount. This odd provision allowed the mayor, his mother,
and two staffers to accept a trip to the Super Bowl worth $40,000,
paid by the
Metro Denver Sports Commission, a nonprofit that tries to
attract sports events to Denver. The gifts were apparently based
on pledges made by at least two city contractors.<br>
<br>
The best practice is to place a low aggregate annual limit on
gifts from any restricted source, enough to prevent
investigating de minimis violations, such as a snack at a
meeting. The idea is that officials shouldn't be accepting gifts
from restricted sources. A rule like Denver's creates a
loophole for huge gifts. And where in the world did it come
from? It's nowhere else to be found in my database of local ethics codes.<br>
<br>
Actually, it's more important to ask, Where in the world might it go?
A 2008 draft amendment to Pittsburgh's ethics code included similar language. Fortunately, this language never made it
into the ethics code. It should be removed from Denver's before it gets picked up by another city, which can proudly say they got the language from Denver, so it must be good.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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