City Related

What is the worst local campaign finance violation? According to <a href="http://www.dailynews.com/crime/ci_16429092&quot; target="”_blank”">an article yesterday
from the Los Angeles <i>Daily News</i></a>, it appears to be political money
laundering. Mark Abrams, a former Beverly Hills developer, was fined
$108,000 yesterday, and $270,000 for similar violations back in 2005.<br>
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According to <a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Vancouver+police+board+seeks+change+ma…; target="”_blank”">an
article
in the Vancouver <i>Sun</i></a>, the mayor of Vancouver, BC is
concerned about the conflict between his chairing the city's police board and
his role in approving the police budget. He said, "It's difficult for

According to <a href="http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/town-council/council-resolution-…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the Palm Beach <i>Daily News</i></a>, Florida law "forbids
government bodies from advocating for voters to vote yes or no in a
referendum election, and from spending funds to advertise for that

Citizen indifference and lack of participation is the most damaging result of a
lack of trust in government officials. One reason is that a vicious
circle is created. When government officials are untrustworthy, and
especially when they use intimidation to create the sort of fear that
severely cuts into citizen participation, there are fewer people to
watch over them on behalf of the public. This makes government
officials feel more fearless and act more self-serving and more openly
intimidating. And so on.<br>
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I chose to specialize in local government ethics because this is where
it all starts. This is where the individuals who become our
representatives experience their first unethical environment, become
team players, learn the rules of the game, and begin to feel a special
entitlement.<br>
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One good thing about election time is that we sometimes get the back stories of
individuals running for higher office. We get to see how they started. One such individual is Carl

There's a lot to learn from the chief of New Orleans' emergency medical
service's past conflicts of interest, which have only recently become
public. Despite the compassion one must feel for the official, the
conflicts were poorly handled by her and by the former mayor and his administration.<br>
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According to <a href="http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/09/post_363.html&quot; target="”_blank”">an

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There's a new twist to the ethics mess in Stamford, which I described
in <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/stamford-ethics-controversy-involving…; target="”_blank”">a

I've written several blog posts about the criminal trials of a
Baltimore
council member and the former Baltimore mayor, focusing on their
successful legislative immunity defenses (<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/463">1</a&gt; <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/problematic-baltimore-legislative-imm…;

In the Indiana Secretary of State race, the headlines are all about
voter
fraud. But the bigger problem, I think, involves the failure of one of
the candidates to differentiate himself from his seat on the Fishers
city council.<br>
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<b>Update:</b> October 8, 2010 (see below)<br>
<br>
There's a fascinating ethics controversy going on in Stamford, CT which
raises a number of issues involving time limits, the enforcement of declarations of policy, intimidation, and the roles of ethics commissions and inspectors general.<br>
<br>