Ethics Officers

<br><br>One of the most important figures in local government ethics passed
away last week at the young age of 61, after a relapse of ovarian
cancer. Virginia "Ginny" Looney was Atlanta's first Ethics Officer.
She was appointed by Mayor Shirley Franklin, who conceived and
pushed through the ethics program back in 2002. <br>
<br>
Ginny helped turn Franklin's ideas and an inadequate ethics code
into an excellent ethics program. She held the ground against

<br>
<b>"I don't think we need to have an ethics officer. ... I feel we already
have three ethics officers."</b><br>
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—<a href="http://www.fbfl.us/&quot; target="”_blank”">Fernandina Beach</a>

This morning the Jacksonville City Council finance committee continued their deliberations on each line item of the city's budget. This morning's agenda begins with the Office of General Counsel, which includes the budget for the City's Ethics Officer.

Council members Yarborough & Joost comment that they want to ensure that the office does NOT report to the General Counsel. Mullaney states "Separated out the LEGAL function of Ethics - into a "Legal Counsel" and kept the non-legal aspects of the ethics office separate from the legal.