Conflicts

The subject of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/06/public-editor/when-coziness-with-sour…; target="”_blank”">Margaret

Consent agendas, also known as consent calendars, are an excellent
way to get around the disclosure of conflicts (and, as Dallas showed
us in 2011, to amend ethics provisions without a discussion (see <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/dallas-council-facilitates-pay-play-s…; target="”_blank”">my
blog post on this</a>)).<br>
<br>

What should be done when an official withdraws from
participation in a matter and gives a reason for withdrawal that appears to
be false? Why would an official provide a false reason for
withdrawal? There are at least two possible reasons:  (1) the
real conflict situation would look worse than the given conflict
situation, or (2) the real reason is that the official doesn't want
to anger the people on either side of the matter, that is, the
official really wants to abstain, but doesn't want to be seen as a

I'm currently reading a classic political science book about urban
politics, <i>Who Governs?</i> by Robert Dahl. Who governs? is a question
that is not asked often enough in local government ethics. It is not
enough for an ethics program to have jurisdiction over officials and
employees. It needs to have jurisdiction over those who actually

Government officials leaving office do not have to do just the
minimum necessary to help gain the public's trust. They can do a lot
more. And they can even make the rules they're following clear, so
that they suggest an alternative to others and provide guidance.<br>
<br>
What is needed are role models. Jesse Eisinger of ProPublica wrote
about two possible role models in his New York Times column on
Thursday. One is Sheila Bair, former head of the FDIC who, in order

Human Rights Watch has just published a harrowing report entitled "<a href="http://www.hrw.org/reports/2014/02/05/profiting-probation-0&quot; target="”_blank”">Profiting
from Probation</a>," which shows how the privatization of
probation has led to conflicts of interest that have seriously
harmed many individuals, and how probation companies have not been sufficiently supervised
by the criminal justice system.<br>
<br>

When a lawyer decides to represent a private client, she does not
give up her right to vote or petition governments on her own behalf.
But what about when a lawyer decides to represent a public client,
especially as a lobbyist? Does such a lawyer give up her right to
vote on issues relating to the city government (assuming she sits on
another government's board) or petition a government on behalf of her own
beliefs?<br>
<br>
These questions arise from a case in Cincinnati, where a city

<b>Incompatible Political Offices</b><br>
According to <a href="http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/5453073-74/macey-county-council#axzz…; target="”_blank”">an
article this week on the TribLive website</a>, an ethics complaint
was filed against an Allegheny County, PA council member for working
as a constituent services representative for a state senator whose

It should be heartening to announce that the head of an important
good government organization has been appointed to the North
Carolina Ethics Commission. But sadly, it is not.<br>
<br>
Francis X. De Luca is the president of <a href="http://www.nccivitas.org/&quot; target="”_blank”">the Civitas Institute</a>, which
has taken strong stands for improving North Carolina's state ethics
program. He is, therefore, someone who should understand government

As I keep saying, conflicts are about "benefits" and
"relationships" rather than about "interests," and this should be
reflected in the language of ethics codes. The clash of these two
kinds of language is the subject of a recent Virginia Supreme Court