City Related

It's great to read newspaper commentary that shows an understanding
of how an unethical organization acts, in this case, the effects of its employment of denial. Scott Lewis,
voiceofsandiego.org's Executive Editor and political commentator, did
this in <a href="http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2008/08/25/columnists/scott_lew…; target="”_blank”">a
column</a> this week.<br>

It was exciting to see someone who made her reputation as a government ethics advocate
named to the Republican ticket. But it was very troubling to read how
she handled a recent revolving door matter.<br>

It's tough to get rid of officials guilty of serious misconduct. Recall and
impeachment are long, grueling processes, which are of no value late in an
official's term. Rarely is removal from office for an ethics violation
an option, and ethics investigations and hearings, including appeal to
a court, can take a long time, as well. It's easier when an official
has been found guilty of a crime, but there are all sorts of ways to

What do sinkholes and poor drainage in a newly-built highway have to do
with government ethics? Often, they are the result of incompetence. But
they are also often the result of unethical conduct.<br>
<br>
That seems to be the cause in Connecticut's big highway mess that has
slowly been unveiled over the last two-and-a-half years, most recently
in an article in the September issue of <span>Connecticut</span>
magazine. The mess involves improvements to a 3-mile strip of

According to <a href="http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/news/stories/2008/08/25/082608_1b_…; target="”_blank”">a
recent article in the Daily Sentinel</a>, a Mesa County (CO)
Commissioner says that he is running for re-election on his
energy-industry experience (he is a principal of an energy services
company that contracts with local oil and gas companies). Energy

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has come up with a new defense of a
potential conflict of interest: "I'm investing in something I believe
in."<br>
<br>
What she was investing in, as "part of an entrepreneurial package," as
she said on yesterday's <span>Meet the
Press</span>, according to <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12764.html&quot; target="”_blank”">a partial

I'd like to follow up on what I said at the end of <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/496&quot; target="”_blank”">yesterday's blog entry</a>, about jurisdictions that make ethics violations criminal and require a
showing of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and a showing of
intentionality or recklessness or negligence. Here is the penalty

A conflict controversy in Benson, Arizona shows how important
participation can be where there is a conflict, even when an official
does not vote. According to <a href="http://www.bensonnews-sun.com/articles/2008/08/20/news/news01.txt&quot; target="”_blank”">an
article in the San Pedro Valley News-Sun</a>, the mayor was in escrow
to purchase property for which he was seeking to (and successfully did)

Local election officials have been put in a bind since the Help America
Vote Act (HAVA) was passed by Congress in 2002. Federal and state
requirements limit their control over voting processes, and there have been
many problems with the companies that provide voting equipment and
services. Besides the pains of dealing with these companies from a

Campaign contributions are not generally considered to be bribes, but
the perception of large campaign contributions from local government contractors is
often that they are payments for contracts past or future, what is
known in the government ethics business as "pay-to-play."<br>
<br>
For this reason, state and local governments have taken a variety of
approaches toward dealing with this perception. The most common
response is disclosure, for example, requiring local government contractors to