City Related

<a href="http://www.minnpost.com/two-cities/2013/01/minneapolis-considers-confli…; target="”_blank”">An
article on the MinnPost site this week</a> brought to my attention
a report done by the Minneapolis Ethical Practices Board (EPB) on
conflicts of interest involving development-related boards (planning, zoning, preservation) in Minneapolis and

<b>Update</b>: January 30, 2013 (see below)<br>
<br>
Four years ago, I wrote <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/556&quot; target="”_blank”">a blog post</a> about
the conflict at the heart of the local redistricting process, where
the members of a legislative body are deeply involved in decisions that will
determine whether or not they, and their party or faction, are
re-elected. This conflict shares some similarities with the

The FBI had to work hard for years to get a grand jury indictment of
former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin yesterday (a searchable PDF of
the indictment is attached; see below).<br>
<br>
A lot of what occurred could have been stopped a long time ago if
the city and state had better ethics laws and the city's ethics
board was able to initiate complaints and hold public hearings on
ethics issues that came to its attention. It appears that every time
I read the indictment of a mayor or council member, the misconduct

Here's an odd ethics program rule. According to <a href="http://www.centralkynews.com/amnews/news/amn-junction-city-will-take-is…; target="”_blank”">an

It would be really helpful if people could find recommendations for
ethics reform all in one place, but this rarely happens. Ethics task
forces and ethics commissions that ask for such recommendations from
good government groups, officials, and academics rarely make them
available to the public online. Collections of such recommendations
would be a useful resource both for those interested in government
ethics in the particular city or county, and for those elsewhere who
are considering ethics reform and looking for good ideas.<br>

It can never be said too often that the quality of a government ethics
code is meaningless. What matters is how the ethics
program actually works.<br>
<br>
Take Bridgeport, CT for example. It is the largest city in
Connecticut, with a population of 150,000. It is a poor city in a rich county, and it
has had a history of corruption, including the mayor's conviction on
federal corruption charges a decade ago.<br>
<br>

Is it enough for a local official to be "not guilty"? This is the
question that has been raised with respect to a Tamarac, FL city
commissioner who was found not guilty of bribery in December,
according to <a href="http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-01-02/news/fl-corruption-mayocol-…; target="”_blank”">a

<b>Update:</b> December 19, 2012 (see below)<br>
<br>
I am always amazed at what contraptions people are willing to set up
to justify the participation of a city attorney in the ethics
program of a large city or county that has sufficient resources to
hire an ethics commission staff member or independent ethics
officer. I raise this issue because controversial ethics reforms are
being voted on today by Fort Worth's council, and one of them
includes making a city attorney's ethics advice an "absolute

Canadian mayors don't appear to be having a good time of it lately,
ethicswise. <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/high-level-officials-obligation-seek-…; target="”_blank”">Montreal's

Annapolis is an unusual little city in many ways. It may only have 40,000
residents, but it's the state capital, the county seat, the home of
the U.S. Naval Academy, and equidistant, and not far, from Baltimore
and Washington, D.C. With respect to government ethics, the county
for which it is the county seat, Anne Arundel County, has <a href="http://www.aacounty.org/ethics/index.cfm&quot; target="”_blank”">a relatively good