New York City's <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/conflicts/html/home/home.shtml">Conflicts
of Interest Board</a> is one of the premier
ethics commissions in the U.S. One would assume that its rules and
procedures would provide an example, as well as guidance, for the rest
of the state. So I would like to look at ethics programs in the other
largest (although not large) cities in the state,
in order by population.<br>

Worth taking a look at is the work of <a href="http://californiawatch.org/&quot; target="”_blank”">California Watch</a> in disclosing
the use of county party committees to launder campaign contributions
far over the legal limits.<br>
<br>
The nonpartisan good government organization presents the data in three
different forms:<br>
<br>

If citizens could once in their lives be a juror in a government ethics
trial, we would have incredible ethics laws. This is the conclusion one
comes to after reading, in <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=880165&quot; target="”_blank”">an

One of the most common mistakes government officials make is to see
recusal as involving only a decision whether or not to vote on a matter
where they have a possible conflict of interest. A Phoenix council member and a
city attorney appear to have made this mistake.<br>
<br>

Who expects a wonderful local government ethics surprise to come from
New Jersey? Check out the Department of State's <a href="http://www.state.nj.us/state/secretary/ordinance.html#1&quot; target="”_blank”">Pay-to-Play
Ordinances page</a>, which provides links, county by county, of
municipal ordinances placing a limited contribution ban on those
entering into municipal contracts.<br>
<br>

Tallahassee takes a compliance approach to ethics. Its <a href="http://www.talgov.com/gov/facts/ethics.cfm&quot; target="”_blank”">ethics code</a> is
aspirational, based on core values. Its ethics training employs a
Character First approach. Conflicts of interest are only a small
portion of a program that ranges from personnel and transparency issues
to harassment, discrimination, and fraud.<br>
<br>

<br>
<b>Update:</b> January 4, 2010 (see below)<br>
<br>
On December 15, Chicago published a <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/24238034/2009-City-of-Chicago-Compliance-and-…; target="”_blank”">Compliance
and
Integrity

In three cities this week, top officials showed the ability to get away with unethical behavior, but not the ability to distinguish law from ethics.<br>
<br>

It's only a month ago that a <a href="http://ethics.lacity.org/pdf/pressrelease/press_112409_SpecialBulletin_…; target="”_blank”">federal
court
in California rejected</a> a PAC's attempt to prevent the Los
Angeles ethics commission from enforcing contribution limits in the

<br>
<b>Update:</b> December 30, 2009<br>
<br>
Two weeks ago, <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/palm-beach-county-ethics-program-has-…; target="”_blank”">I
welcomed</a> the new Palm Beach County ethics codes. What I didn't
realize is how much of the county's government isn't covered by the