Ethics Reform

People in Alabama are falling over each other claiming that their
ethics reforms give the state the best, toughest ethics laws in the nation. But
when you take a closer look, some of them don't look all that good.<br>
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Quick. What's the biggest government ethics problem?<br>
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<b>I have to admit that [the proposed ethics code and disclosure form] made
me nervous because I kept seeing instances where I personally could be
considered, shall I say, at risk. Because the things I am involved in
are funded by the city. Making me nervous was a good thing. This is
very clear.</b><br><br>

More election-related news. Here are two arguments against an amendment to the Utah constitution
that, if approved by voters on November 2, would establish a partially independent legislative ethics
commission. The arguments are made in an <a href="http://vote.utah.gov/on-my-ballot/issue-details/issue/177461382&quot; target="”_blank”">official
ballot
issue publication</a> of the state of Utah.<br>
<br>

In May, <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/comparison-two-county-ethics-initiati…; target="”_blank”">I wrote a critical assessment</a> of the <a href="http://www.wbcitizensvoice.com/pdfs/Ethics%20Pledge.pdf&quot; target="”_blank”">Luzerne

The Missouri Ethics Commission has put up <a href="http://www.mec.mo.gov/WebDocs/Training/SB844Overview/index.htm&quot; target="”_blank”">a
nice slideshow-with-audio presentation</a> on the many <a href="http://www.mec.mo.gov/EthicsWeb/Feature.aspx&quot; target="”_blank”">changes made</a>

A new way to obtain ethics reform is making some headway in New York
State. A number of former bigwigs, including former governor Mario
Cuomo, and former NYC mayors Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani, have created an
organization called <a href="http://www.nyuprising.org">New York

<br>
There are many ways to get ethics reform going (the Lone Ranger being out of fashion outside of New York State), but the choices are
different in different states, and it's hard to know which one is best
or most practicable for a particular community. <a href="http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-07-13/story/ethics-reform-could…; target="”_blank”">An
article

<b>Can they convict him simply for failing to disclose information when
he had no duty to disclose? No Alaska law required it, and there's no
federal statute that requires it, so what did he do wrong?</b><br>
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— Donald Ayer, attorney for former Alaska state representative Bruce
Weyhrauch (December 2009) (taken from <a href="http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=12703600&quot; target="”_blank”">an article on

Most local governments leave open meeting and public records matters to
the state. But often the slowness and expense of the state enforcement
process, as well as weaknesses in state law (e.g., too short a period
for noticing agendas, vague guidelines on filling FOI requests), can
mean that open meeting and public records laws are insufficiently
effective or are ignored.<br>
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Historically, enforcement depends largely on the news media, but with
their cuts in budget and staff, they are often not doing the job