This summer, several New Jersey local government officials were
arrested in a big FBI sting operation (see my <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/815&quot; target="”_blank”">blog post</a>). Yesterday, <a href="http://media.nj.com/hudsoncountynow_impact/other/Jersey-City-Audit.pdf&…; target="”_blank”">an

Ethics reform aimed at political opponents is a good way to undermine the whole idea of ethics reform. This is what is happening in San Jose.<br>
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San Jose starts off with an odd ethics program. <a href="http://www.sanjoseca.gov/Clerk/commissionboard/Election/SJMCTitle12.pdf…; target="”_blank”">Title 12: Ethics Provisions</a> does not even have a conflict of

The relationship between San Diego's council and ethics commission
continues to prove unhealthy. It shows how wrong it is for elected
officials to appoint and control the body that oversees their conduct.<br>
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COGEL (Council on Governmental Ethics Laws) annual conferences are often held at a time and place where there are
serious government ethics issues. Last year, the conference was held in
Chicago the day Gov. Blagojevich was arrested. This year, the
conference was held in Maricopa County, AZ, where few days go by when
there isn't a serious government ethics issue. Maricopa County has got
to be the most dysfunctional county in the U.S.<br>
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Yesterday, Philadelphia's Task Force on Ethics and Campaign Finance
Reform released a <a href="http://media.philly.com/documents/Task+Force+Report.pdf&quot; target="”_blank”">58-page
report</a> (plus ethics laws) requested by the city's mayor and council
president in 2008.<br>
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The report recommends a large number of reforms, most of them stricter

I'm back from the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL)
conference, and I will be sharing some valuable information from the
talks and panels I attended.<br>
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In a panel on gifts provisions in ethics codes, the panel consisted not
only of the usual government ethics professionals, but also a lawyer
who advises and defends lobbyists and those who do business with
governments. One difference in their perspectives stood out.<br>
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Today's NY Times has an interesting article on the "<i>honest-services fraud</i>" statute:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/us/07honest.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=joun%2… (URL may require subscription)

It's been a year since the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL),
the association of state and local government ethics professionals, met
in Cook County, IL. But the day before COGEL meets in Scottdale, AZ,
it's time to take another look at one of America's most unethical
counties, which includes Chicago.<br>
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This time the focus is on the county's townships. The problem is summed
up professionally in the abstract to a paper published last year. It's

One way of describing government ethics is that it involves the use and
abuse of the power that goes with government officials' positions. Not
all such abuses are covered by ethics laws, of course. This blog post looks at an
instance of abuse that is not covered. It involves a state
legislature and, especially, one state representative, in a state where local ethics is handled at the state level.<br>
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Is it a conflict for a council member to be an officer of a
neighborhood association? This issue arose recently in Tulsa, according
to <a href="http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=16&articleid=2009…; target="”_blank”">an
article this week in the <i>Tulsa World</i></a>. <br>
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