County Related

<br>
According to <a href="http://www.cdobs.com/archive/syndicated/peraica-introduces-new-ethics-o…; target="”_blank”">an
article in yesterday's Chicago <i>Daily Observer</i></a>, Cook County

Last September, I wrote <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/palm-beach-county-business-coalition-…; target="”_blank”">a
blog post</a> about an ethics initiative in Palm Beach County, Florida.
A response to numerous scandals, it featured an ethics pledge,
primarily for government officials, and a successful attempt to get an
independent ethics commission and inspector general for the county

<b>Update:</b> May 12, 2010 (see below)<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-ethics-reform-broward-20100504,0,4517356…; target="”_blank”">an
article in Tuesday's <i>Sun-Sentinel<i></a>, Broward County (FL) Commissioner Ilene

After all the problems San Diego pension boards have had with conflicts
of interest (see <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/local-government-employees-local-gove…; target="”_blank”">my
blog pos</a>t from November 2009), one would think they would be
extra-sensitive to further conflicts. But, alas, not in this case.<br>
<br>

It's been four months since <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/694&quot; target="”_blank”">my latest update</a> on San
Bernardino County's failure to follow <a href="http://www.co.san-bernardino.ca.us/grandjury/pdf/Report0809/20090701_gj…; target="”_blank”">grand

<b>Update</b>: February 3, 2010 (see below)<br>
<br>
A <a href="http://sogweb.sog.unc.edu/blogs/localgovt/?p=1704&quot; target="”_blank”">NC Local
Government Blog post</a> yesterday made me aware that there have
recently been some very public conflict of interest issues involving
North Carolina's alcoholic beverage control (ABC) system, the state
liquor sales program, which allows

As I mentioned in <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/family-and-conflicts-broward-county-f…
recent blog post</a>, the Broward County (FL; home of Ft. Lauderdale)
commissioners are seeking to have an ethics code (enforced by an
inspector general; it's being drafted) apply to county employees, as
well. For some reason, this not only must go to referendum, but must
also be approved by a majority each of state senators and

Many complex conflicts of interest involve the spouses and other close family
members of local government officials, as can be seen in Broward County
(FL, home of Ft. Lauderdale) according to <a href="http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2009/10/fbi_…
article in the <i>Sun-Sentinel</i></a>.<br>
<br>

Worth taking a look at is the work of <a href="http://californiawatch.org/&quot; target="”_blank”">California Watch</a> in disclosing
the use of county party committees to launder campaign contributions
far over the legal limits.<br>
<br>
The nonpartisan good government organization presents the data in three
different forms:<br>
<br>

<br>
<b>Update:</b> December 30, 2009<br>
<br>
Two weeks ago, <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/palm-beach-county-ethics-program-has-…; target="”_blank”">I
welcomed</a> the new Palm Beach County ethics codes. What I didn't
realize is how much of the county's government isn't covered by the