City Related

On Friday, New Orleans' Inspector General, who works for the city's ethics board, sent off two
letters relating to the auditor for the Orleans Parish sheriff's
office. <a href="http://www.nolaoig.org/uploads/File/Public%20Letters/Ltr%20La%20Ethics%…; target="”_blank”">One
letter was sent to the state's ethics board</a>, which has
jurisdiction over local officials, requesting that it take

When it comes to conflicts of interest, is a local government
attorney primarily an attorney or a local government official? I
would answer this question, "Definitely an official." But recently
the New Jersey Supreme Court answered this question, "Definitely an
attorney." In fact, had the attorney been an administrator, the
opinion suggests, the court's decision would have been different.<br>
<br>
The opinion focuses on the standard for determining whether the

It is a pleasant surprise to find an intelligent conversation about
local government ethics in an article and the comments to it. The
latest example of this occurred <a href="http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/andy_rizzo_…; target="”_blank”">yesterday
in the New Haven (CT) <i>Independent</b></a>, an online newspaper.<br>
<br>

Several interesting issues arise from a recent ethics case in
Jefferson Parish, a suburb of New Orleans with about 430,000 people.
According to <a href="http://theadvocate.com/news/6470612-123/jeff-ethics-panel-declines-to&q…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the <i>Advocate</i> yesterday</a>, an employee of a large

In New Orleans, it is the ethics board that selects <a href="http://nolaoig.org/main/">the city's inspector general</a>.
According to <a href="http://www.myneworleans.com/New-Orleans-Magazine/July-2013/Assessing-a-…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the July issue of <i>New Orleans</i> magazine</a>, it took the

<b>Update</b> October 7, 2013 (see below)<br>
<br>
On Independence Day weekend, I like to focus on the independence of
local government ethics programs. The public naturally trusts any
ethics program that has not been selected by the officials under its
jurisdiction. An EC that is not dependent on the
appointment and budgetary powers of a mayor or local legislative
body can function, and be seen to function, fairly and without bias.<br>
<br>

According to <a href="http://www.nmtelegram.com/2013/05/07/berry-donors-sue-clerk-over-contri…; target="”_blank”">a
New Mexico <i>Telegram</i> article</a>, four Albuquerque contractors sued
the city's ethics board, claiming that a 2007 charter provision banning
contributions from contractors violates
their free speech rights.<br>
<br>

Lawyers and confidentiality can both be serious obstacles to the effectiveness of a
government ethics program. An ethics case in Trumbull, CT provides a
good look at how this can happen.<br>
<br>
<b>Attorneys on an Ethics Commission</b><br>
According to <a href="http://www.trumbulltimes.com/11080/ethics-complaint-dismissed-herbst-ba…; target="”_blank”">an

In June, the Phoenix council took a step toward ethics reform,
based on the recommendations of a task force (I critiqued the task
force recommendations in an April post entitled<span> </span>"<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/disappointing-report-ethics-task-forc…; target="”_blank”">Disappointing

Does a council member who is a realtor have a conflict with respect
to any council matter that affects real estate, including a matter that affects property values ? That appears to be
the view of NJ Superior Court Judge Grasso in a decision this week,
according to <a href="http://www.app.com/article/20130619/NJNEWS/306190125/Voting-conflict-pu…; target="”_blank”">an