City Related

In <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/stamford-antagonists-reach-settlement…; target="”_blank”">the
last
installment</a> of the ongoing Stamford (CT) ethics battle, the
major antagonist had reached a settlement with the ethics board, and
the principal cases, both ethics proceedings and a federal suit against
the ethics board and the ethics complainants, were withdrawn. But this

<b>A Clever Use of Government Employees for Political Purposes</b><br>
According to <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/01/2092632/role-of-transit-workers-i…; target="”_blank”">an
article
in the Miami <i>Herald</i></a>, it appears that the mayor of
Miami-Dade County, currently facing a recall election, is playing a
clever little game that involves the use of government employees for

<b>Let's Not Drink to It</b><br>
Yes, it has happened. Local government ethics has been compared to
Prohibition.<br>
<br>

According to <a href="http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x945638644/Ashland-selectmen-see…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the Metro West <i>Daily News</i> on Friday</a>, the Ashland (MA)
board of selectmen sent two reported allegations of possible acts of ethical
misconduct to the state ethics
commission. The request sought not enforcement, but clarification. I hope by

<b>Conflicting Employment Is Nothing to Rave About</b><br>
Some forms of conflicting employment are wrong to the extent that the
only way to handle the conflict responsibly is to resign from one of
the jobs. If this is not done, even a minor conflict can be very
damaging, especially when there are already other problems. This is the
case with an administrator at the Los Angeles Coliseum who worked on
the side as a consultant for a company that annually produced a rave at
the Coliseum.<br>
<br>

I'm going to keep showing how wrong the criminal
enforcement of ethics laws is until there is at least some sign of
movement away from it. This time I will do it by looking at two recent
proceedings in which serious penalties are involved, one criminal, the
other civil. The criminal penalties are about punishment, the civil
penalties about strengthening the ethics program and sending important
messages to other officials and employees.<br>
<br>

Good news from Stamford. According to <a href="http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Board-of-Finance-chairman…; target="”_blank”">an

<a href="http://www.foioklahoma.org/OpenMeeting.pdf&quot; target="”_blank”">Oklahoma's Open
Meeting Act,</a> which applies to local governments, ends with an
unusual provision. That provision is the only provision in the act that
deals with enforcement. It says that a willful violation of a provision
is a misdemeanor, and that someone guilty of a violation may be fined
up to $500 and/or imprisoned in a county jail for up to one year.<br>

<b>More Costs of Not Having an Ethics Program</b><br>
Local officials are always complaining about the cost of an ethics
program, but not having an ethics program can be expensive and
extremely disruptive, and seem downright unfair.<br>
<br>

It is worth noting that the respondent member of the Stamford board of
finance in the matter covered in <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/not-withdrawing-responsible-way-deal-…; target="”_blank”">the
preceding blog post</a> raised both a
legislative immunity and a First Amendment free speech defense in his federal court