Talk of Ethics Reform in Oakland and Sarasota County

<b>An Oakland Ethics Reform Proposal</b><br>
According to <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_25755048/proposal-would-empower-oaklands-…; target="”_blank”">an
article this week in the <i>Mercury News,</i></a> an
Oakland, CA council member has proposed to more than triple the city ethics
commission's staff, expand its oversight powers to include campaign
finance and lobbying (currently handled by the city clerk), have its
executive director report to the commission, and allow the commission to
seek independent legal advice and to impose fines. The
commission's decisions would be appealable only to a court. The
additional funds might come partially from fees on local campaign
committees. A copy of the proposal is attached; see below.<br>
<br>
One of the exciting things about this proposal is that it was
drafted by a Working Group of individuals in the community with
ethics and other good government experience. The members include the
program director of a campaign finance research organization, the
co-chair of a local clean money group, the president of the local
League of Women Voters, a past chair of the Oakland EC, a voting
rights advocate, and a couple of board members of California Common
Cause. It is a great and unusual thing to get so many people who are
knowledgeable about and focused on these issues to work on such a
proposal. The group even says that it used my free e-book <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/ethics%20book"><i>Local Government
Ethics Programs</i></a> as a resource in its work.<br>
<br>

A grand jury report was the impetus for the reforms being discussed
(see <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/current-ethics-reform-i-orange-county…; target="”_blank”">my
blog post on the report</a>) . But despite the grand jury's recommendations and the expertise that went into the proposal, it's not clear whether many
council members will support ethics reform.<br>
<br>
<b>Talk of Ethics Reform in Sarasota County</b><br>
Good news from Sarasota County, FL. According to <a href="http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20140512/ARTICLE/140519906/-1/news…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the <i>Herald-Tribune</i> this week</a>, after the
county administrator fired the county's ethics coordinator and it appeared that the county commission might let
the weak state ethics commission handle the county's ethics needs
(see <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/local-or-state-jurisdiction-over-loca…; target="”_blank”">my
blog post on this</a>), the county's Council of Neighborhood
Associations invited Dan Krassner, executive director of state
watchdog Integrity Florida, to speak about promoting ethics. It is
unusual for anyone to call in an outside expert for some straight
talk about government ethics.<br>
<br>
Other good news includes (1) the hiring of an inspector general by the
county circuit court clerk and comptroller (one person), and (2) a
candidate for a seat on the county’s Charter Review
Board saying that "he is interested in changing the charter to create an
ethics commission that would be independent of elected officials."<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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