A Miscellany
<br>
<b>Outside Ethics Commission Members</b><br>
According to <a href="http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20091122/NEWS01/911220302/1002/New-p…; target="”_blank”">an
article in yesterday's Salisbury (MD) <i>Daily Times</i></a>, the mayor of
Snow Hill (pop. 2400) has decided to look outside his town for members of an ad hoc
ethics commission to deal with an ethics complaint arising from a
zoning appeals board decision. <br>
<br>
"It's not that the citizens of Snow Hill wouldn't be honest and
upright. I just think when it involves neighbors, you are better off
having people who don't know the parties and are impartial."<br>
<br>
I don't know if the mayor realizes how radical this idea is, or how
difficult it can be to implement. Impartiality is an important goal,
but it is hard enough to get people to join their own town commissions,
not to mention other towns'. This is why the best ways small towns can
obtain impartial ethics commissions is either through state ethics
commissions or regional ethics commissions, that is, towns joining
together, each naming one member of a joint ethics commission.<br>
<br>
<b>When Is a Renter-Landlord Relationship a Conflict?</b><br>
When a renter-landlord relationship constitutes a potential conflict
can be difficult to determine. A major issue is whether the renter is
paying a fair market value for the lease. But even if the renter is
paying full price, there is still a special relationship between the
two, and there are many ways in which a landlord can give favors to a renter.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/crime/la-me-pension23-2009nov23,0,715…; target="”_blank”">an article in today's Los Angeles <i>Times</i></a>, this issue has
arisen with respect to a pension fund manager and a pension fund board
member in Los Angeles. It turns out that both of them rented apartments
in the same building, owned by an investment company whose funds both
boards decided to invest in. The investment company insisted that both
renters paid a fair market value for their leases.<br>
<br>
But the reporter points out how fishy it looks that two pension fund
officials, both of whom came to L.A. from the state pension fund, found
apartments in the same building owned by a company seeking business
from the L.A. pension funds. This is an additional problem with even a
fair renter-landlord relationship: the appearance of impropriety.<br>
<br>
This appearance is strengthened by a current Los Angeles Ethics
Commission investigation to determine whether one of the officials
violated the city's revolving door provision, by negotiating
employment with a company that had pending city business.<br>
<br>
I took a somewhat different approach to a renter-landlord relationship
in an <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/737" target="”_blank”">earlier blog post</a><br>
<br>
<b>The Financial Disclosures of County Legislators</b><br>
Financial disclosure by local government officials is useful both for the public to know what conflicts may arise, and for the officials themselves to consider potential conflict situations they will want to deal with responsibly.<br>
<br>
The Utica (NY) <i>Observer-Dispatch</i> did <a href="http://www.uticaod.com/news/x1682933583/Legislators-required-to-disclos…; target="”_blank”">an
article</a> this weekend on the disclosures of Oneida County
legislators. It's worth a look to see the range of involvements of
local government officials, the ways in which conflicts can occur and,
in some cases, how the officials are dealing responsibly or
irresponsibly with their conflicting interests.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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