County Related

<b>Waiving the Privilege and The Extent of Withdrawal</b><br>
According to <a href="http://business-journal.com/airport-board-cooperates-in-land-deal-probe…; target="”_blank”">an
article in yesterday's <i>Business Journal Daily</i></a>, the Ohio Ethics
Commission, which has jurisdiction over local government ethics, is
investigating the Western Reserve Port Authority's lease of property at

This week, according to an article in the Cleveland <i>Plain Dealer</i>,
Cuyahoga County (which includes Cleveland) passed a new ethics code,
largely based on <a href="http://charter.cuyahogacounty.us/pdf_transitioninfo/en-US/COERecommenda…; target="”_blank”">the
recommended code</a>
drafted in October by the Code of Ethics Workgroup, set up by the Cuyahoga County Transition Advisory Group Executive

<b>Update:</b> March 19, 2011 (see below)<br>
<br>
Last December I wrote <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/pay-play-culture-prince-georges-count…; target="”_blank”">a
long blog post</a> about the pay-to-play culture of Prince George's
County, Maryland. The new county executive and the county's state
representatives appear to have been working hard to make changes to end

Cook County assessor Joseph Berrios is becoming a regular character in
this blog (see below for prior posts on him). This time he is declaring
unconstitutional a law passed by the county to limit his fundraising
from lawyers who appeal property tax assessments. And he has the

I don't usually turn over an entire blog post to someone else, although I would like very much to do it. <a href="http://www.timesleader.com/golackawanna/people/Kavulich_legislation_on_…; target="”_blank”">This
letter

<br>Term limits, the recession, a new kind of governmental district, and a drive to save and manage local parks have all contributed to a fascinating ethics situation in Pierce County, Washington, home of
Tacoma. Just last year I stayed in Pierce County and visited some of
these parks, so this story is a little more concrete to me than most I
write about.<br>
<br>

Here are three interesting conflict of interest case studies from
Tuesday's news.<br>
<br>
<b>Conflicts That Make You Act Differently, and Imaginative Resolutions</b><br>
According to <a href="http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_17455394&quot; target="”_blank”">an
article in the Los Angeles <i>Daily Breeze</i></a>, a former Los Angeles
airport attorney, who reviewed the paperwork submitted by four

<a href="http://www.bismarcktribune.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_aac…; target="”_blank”">An
article in the Bismarck (ND) <i>Tribune</i> this weekend</a> raised the issue
of when a board or commission member may withdraw from a matter in
which he feels he has a conflict, but where there is not a direct,
pecuniary interest. It turns out that, back in 2007, the Burleigh

You know you're doing a pretty poor job with government ethics when a
grand jury recommends that you be all but abolished. This is the case
with the Broward County School Board, according to <a href="http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/pub_info/summaries/briefs/09/09-1910…; target="”_blank”">a
report
published on Frday</a>. It concludes, on p. 48:<ul>

It's nice to be able to write about a difficult conflict situation that
is handled responsibly. It's unusual to be able to
write about a resolution where the local newspaper ends <a href="http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110219/OPINION11/102190314/Scot…; target="”_blank”">its editorial</a>
saying that the right thing has been done.<br>