County Related

All ethics oversight cannot be done by an ethics commission. Much
oversight needs to be done outside of the complaint process. Even when
complaints are made, a lack of proper oversight can leave a big hole in
the facts available to an EC. I came across such a situation in <a href="http://www2.tricities.com/news/2010/oct/24/role-firefighters-wrecking-s…; target="”_blank”">yesterday's
Bristol

Over-reaction to an alleged ethics violation can be as bad as
under-reaction. In Bergen County, NJ, after one of seven <a href="http://www.co.bergen.nj.us/freeholders/default.html&quot; target="”_blank”">freeholders
</a>(the county council), at his first meeting, voted to continue to
keep county funds in a bank owned by the parent of the company he works for, an
ethics complaint was filed and then the county administrator called on

<a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-d…; target="”_blank”">The
Dallas <i>Morning News</i> on Wednesday</a> ran a fascinating article about
Dallas County's district attorney. It caught my interest because he was
accused of a conflict of interest, but accusing this district attorney

<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/poor-draftmanship-and-poor-ethics&quot; target="”_blank”">When
I wrote about the disclosure controversy in Suffolk County</a> back in
July, I didn't realize that another interesting ethics issue was going
on there. In late June, the county legislature had instituted an
investigation of the county ethics commission. One reason for this

In Milwaukee County, according to <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/103255159.html&quot; target="”_blank”">an
article in Sunday's <i>Journal-Sentinel</i></a>, a county supervisor is
seeking to add to <a href="http://www.milwaukeecounty.org/ETHICSBOARD8460.htm&quot; target="”_blank”">the county

What is most remarkable about the <a href="http://www.santafecounty.org/documents/agendas/packet_materials/BCCDraf…
code
of conduct for Santa Fe Count</a>y (NM) is the fact that it was
drafted by the county attorney. It reads as if it were put together by
a citizens group in a community that has lost faith in its
government officials.<br>
<br>

What can a citizen do when a local government official falsely impugns
her reputation and retaliates against her due to her opposition to a
matter the official supports? The City Ethics Model Code has<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/full-text-model-ethics-code#0.1_TOC50…; target="”_blank”">
a provision that deals with an official falsely impugning a citizen's

I've been writing a lot about the controversies surrounding a new
Broward County (FL) ethics code, but there's also been controversy in
the Broward County School District that is likely to lead to an ethics code of its own (according to <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/14/1775493/focus-on-ethics.html&quot; target="”_blank”">a
Miami

<br>
I don't normally deal with purely campaign finance issues, but this
gambit is too good (or too bad) to pass by. The perpetrator of the
gambit is our old friend Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, AZ.<br>
<br>

Whistleblower provisions are extremely important to government ethics, but
poorly worded ethics provisions can undermine even the best
whistleblower provisions, especially in unscrupulous hands. One such ethics provision is the confidential
information provision.<br>
<br>
A nurse at a Winker County, TX hospital was charged