It appeared to be a sign of sheer desperation when former Illinois
governor Rod Blagojevich's attorney, in his closing argument last week,
used as a defense the fact that Blagojevich isn't "the sharpest knife
in the drawer."<br>
<br>
But actually this is a real issue, at least in government ethics. It is
often hard to tell the difference between incompetence and misuse of
office. Take local government attorneys, for example. Many of them
consciously let

Yesterday, I wrote <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/intimidation-%E2%80%94-worst-offense-…; target="”_blank”">a blog post about intimidation</a>, but I forgot to
mention what might be the greatest fear among citizens relating to their
local government:  the fear that if they speak out against local
officials, especially school officials, it will affect their school-age
children.<br>
<br>

There is no greater pleasure for some people than accusing ethics
professionals and ethics commission members of unethical behavior. That
is why ethics professionals and ethics commission members have to be
extra careful about what they do, and why individuals who have not
dealt responsibly with conflicts of interest, at least in the recent
past, should not accept a nomination to an ethics commission.<br>
<br>
What no one wants to read is what is being written about the current

<b>Updates:</b> August 4 and 9, 2010 (see below)<br>
I was just saying to someone the other day that the worst offenses in
local government ethics do not involve money. The worst offenses in
local government ethics involve intimidation, which causes people to lose their peace of mind, their reputations, and the feeling that they may participate in their local government, things no amount of money can buy. And yet it is the rare ethics
complaint or arrest that primarily involves intimidation. Well, this

In March I wrote <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/matter-facts-or-law-la-crosse&quot; target="”_blank”">a
blog
post about a situation in La Crosse</a>, Wisconsin where the mayor
brought his father, who runs a refuse business, to meet with a county
official about a county solid waste assessment. A council member sought
advice from the city attorney rather than the city ethics board, and

There is an intriguing <a href="http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016575.html&quot; target="”_blank”">blog post on
Rick Hasen's Election Law Blog</a> this morning, entitled, Is
Reading a Legal Blog in One's Field Now Part of the Due Diligence of
Lawyers?<br>
<br>
This is not the wishful thinking of a blogger, but rather a response to

According to <a href="http://www.tidewaternews.com/news/2010/jul/30/conflict-interest/&quot; target="”_blank”">an
article
in the Tidewater <i>News</i></a>, a Franklin (VA) council member
said at his first council meeting that he felt the city should stop
charging interest on delinquent property taxes, since so many taxpayers
are under financial duress. The council member happens to be one of

<b>Update:</b> August 2, 2010 (see below)<br>
<br>
I've long said that conflicts of interest should not be limited to
financial interests or, in other terms, situations where a possible
financial benefit or loss is involved (see, for example,<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/conflicts-interest-go-beyond-financia…; target="”_blank”">

In <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/there-meaningful-difference-between-m…; target="”_blank”">a
recent blog post</a>, I wrote about a federal third circuit decision
that a law prohibiting an ethics complainant from announcing the filing
of the complaint violates the complainant's first amendment rights.
This decision contradicts a second circuit decision that upheld a law

<b>Update: September 23, 2010</b> (see below)<br>
<br>
Lack of transparency and voter indifference, especially relating to
technical issues, are often considered minor issues not
central to local government ethics. What happened the last
few years in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell,_California&quot; target="”_blank”">Bell,
California</a> (pop. 37,000; Los Angeles County) should make people