City Related

The ethics war in San Diego is heating up. It has escalated from elected
officials pointing out problems they have with <a href="http://www.sandiego.gov/ethics/">the
city's ethics commission</a> to the future existence of the EC. The
latest battle presents an excellent window into the mindset of those who
oppose government ethics, especially, in this case, the enforcement of campaign finance
rules.<br>
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(<b>Update:</b> March 1, 2010: Also see this <a href="http://jacksonville.com/opinion/editorials/2010-02-28/story/ethics_code… <i>Times-Union</i> editorial </a>on the importance of an independent ethics commission that has authority over independent authorities. A particularly valuable observation: "The city Ethics Commission needs the ability to obtain independent legal advice.

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Never a dull moment in Chicago. According to <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-carothers-plead-2010020…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the Chicago <i>Tribune</i></a>, a now-former alderman has pleaded
guilty to bribery and tax fraud charges relating to $40,000 in work done on
his home by a developer whose development he backed. This makes him the

<b>Update:</b> February 19, 2010 (see below)<br>
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This blog post is about Chicago, and things are more complicated in
Chicago than in other American municipalities. So please read slowly
and carefully.<br>
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According to <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/ct-met-daley-deputy-qu…; target="”_blank”">an

<b>Update: December 10, 2010</b> (see below)<br>
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After all I've written about the immunity courts have given legislators from enforcement actions by ethics commissions, I now
can write about a court decision that gives ethics commissions and their
staff immunity from suits by respondents in ethics enforcement actions, in this case one for defamation against an ethics board's executive director.
The respondent in this case, however, is not a legislator, but a losing

<b>Update:</b> February 5, 2010 (see below)<br>
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Here's an interesting dual position question, that is, a question
involving one individual holding two government positions. The most
important
conflict involved in dual positions is that you cannot consistently
fulfill
your fiduciary obligations to one constituency while fulfilling your

Yesterday, the California Supreme Court published <a href="http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S157341.PDF&quot; target="”_blank”">its
decision</a> relating to the conflict of interest charges against five
members of San Diego's pension board, which I discussed a couple months

Many local government ethics codes have a provision that, when officials publicly give personal opinions rather than the government's position, requires them to clearly state
that they are not representing the local government.
Here's the one from <a href="http://www.santa-clarita.com/cityhall/agendas/council/print_attachment…; target="”_blank”">the

Which is the more troubling misuse of office? A local government
official having a citizen arrested for criticizing him, or a local
government official using tax dollars to pay off a citizen so that it
doesn't come out that the politician has influence over whom the police
arrest?<br>
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According to <a href="http://www.dallascityhall.com/committee_briefings/briefings0110/ECO_Mun…; target="”_blank”">a
January 15 memorandum</a>, a week from today the Dallas city council