County Related

According to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/all-montgomery-council-…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the Washington <i>Post</i></a>, two weeks ago, a public
campaign financing bill (attached; see below) was introduced,
cosponsored by all council members of Montgomery County, MD, a

What should an ethics program do when an agency or department takes
ethics advice and enforcement into its own hands? This issue has arisen in
Hawaii County, according to two articles in <i>West Hawaii Today</i>, <a href="http://westhawaiitoday.com/news/local-news/property-tax-issue-ethics-bo…; target="”_blank”">one

This week, the Broward County (FL) inspector general filed <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-broward-inspector-general-report-ethics…; target="”_blank”">a
Review of the Existing Ethics Structure</a> (attached; see below) of the countywide
ethics program that he oversees, and which came into being via
charter amendments overwhelmingly approved by the county's voters in late 2010.

Here is a concrete example of the problem of allowing local
government attorneys to provide ethics advice that protects local officials, a problem that
Florida state senator Jeff Clemens and the Florida League of Cities
want to harden into state law in SB 606 (see <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/florida-league-cities-ethics-reform-p…; target="”_blank”">my

I am a proponent of ethics waivers. But only if they are provided by
an independent ethics commission. When they are provided by
high-level officials or their appointees, they appear to be
self-serving. Why self-serving? Because they create precedents that
will enable those who make the precedents to themselves get ethics
waivers.<br>
<br>
Westchester County, NY has an ethics waiver process that allows the

According to <a href="http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/government/leopold-attorney-argues-f…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the Capital <i>Gazette</i></a>, a former Anne Arundel County
(MD) county executive, who was convicted early this year of a
misdemeanor for misconduct in office, wants to run for office again,

Sometimes, conflict of interest matters come disguised as election
law matters. Most of the time, due to secrecy, laziness, or an
inability to draw lines between the dots, no one recognizes the
conflict of interest matter. But sometimes, someone gives the game
away, and it becomes clear how inextricable the two areas can be.<br>
<br>

<a href="http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/opinion/our-view/x1997481126/When…; target="”_blank”">A
Bakersfield <i>Californian</i> editorial on Saturday</a> points out the kinds of conflict situation that arise when, to save money, a
coroner office is brought into a sheriff or police department
office.<br>
<br>

In <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/appearance-problems-surrounding-reque…; target="”_blank”">an

What can a local official do when he is required to withdraw from a
matter that involves a close personal friend who's in hot
water due to that official's feud with another official? What do you do when you're caught between a rock and a hard place? The
district attorney of Putnam County, NY is faced with this odd and
difficult mix of personal and public obligations, at least if what
he is saying is true.<br>
<br>