A lot of interesting issues have arisen with respect
to Santa Fe's <a href="http://www.santafenm.gov/index.aspx?NID=1454&quot; target="”_blank”">Ethics and
Campaign Review Board</a>.<br>
<br>
<b>A Majority of Lawyers on an Ethics Board</b><br>
First, a new selection process was created, and the ethics board members were
replaced some time between the July and August meetings. Instead of

<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/louisville-council-member-digs-ec-dec…; target="”_blank”">Three
months ago, I wrote</a> about an ethics commission decision asking
for the removal of a Louisville council member, and the start of
proceedings in the council to do just that. I noted that the council
member's reaction was pure denial and attack on the ethics
commission.<br>

Once again, an elected official in the national eye took an
opportunity to teach the public about government ethics and used it
solely to distort government ethics and defend himself.<br>
<br>
The official is Texas Governor Rick Perry who, according to <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2011/09/13/2011-09-13_rick_per…; target="”_blank”">an

I came across a decision in Patty Salkin's <a href="http://lawoftheland.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/7th-circuit-holds-develope…; target="”_blank”">Law
of the Land blog today</a> involving a federal statute that
allows federal prosecution of those who give gifts to local

It is a given (although not a fact) that everyone wants to make it
as easy as possible to vote. Voting is the principal way most people
participate in a democracy, and choosing our local officials is the
way we determine the direction and quality of management of our community. In most countries,
voting day is a day off, but this is not true for most people in the
U.S. So it is important to find other ways of making voting easier for people with full-time jobs.<br>
<br>

The situation where New York City's mayor misrepresented the reason
for the resignation of one of his deputy mayors in order to protect
his privacy regarding a domestic dispute raises some interesting
issues about transparency, favoritism, and the extent to which the
private should be made public.<br>
<br>

Did you know that the District of Columbia has its own Speech or
Debate Clause? I learned this from reading the <a href="http://www.legaltimes.typepad.com/files/motion-for-protective-order-1.p…; target="”_blank”">Motion
for a Protective Order on Behalf of Mayor Vincent C. Gray</a>

Let's say you're a professional who wants to give something back to
your community by serving on a city board or commission. You open up
the newspaper and read that your mayor is saying, "It is not the
five of us commissioners who make the city great. It's the citizens
who are passionate about it, and now we're telling them, 'Sorry you
can't serve.'"<br>
<br>
Or the mayor is saying, "On certain boards we require professional

<br><br>
The participation of professionals in local government has become

Trust in government is a requirement for participation in