Update: The bill (2010-616) was passed unanimously by the Finance Committee on Tuesday, leaving it on the consent agenda for next Tuesday's full City of Jacksonville Council meeting: 11/23/2010 @ 5pm<br>

<b>A Resignation from an Ethics Board for a Possible Future Conflict</b><br>
A member of the Philadelphia Board of Ethics resigned recently,
according to <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/city/20101021_Nolan_N__Atkin…; target="”_blank”">an
article
in the Philadelphia <i>Inquirer</i></a>. The reason for his

<br>
Vernon, CA, the subject of several blog posts here (click <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/update-vernon-ultimate-company-town&q…; target="”_blank”">here</a>
for the latest), has been the object of criminal investigations, but
now local officials are starting to get creative in response to the
most creatively imagined city in the U.S.<br>
<br>

One group of individuals with a great deal of power in local government
is not covered by local ethics codes or the other aspects of local
ethics programs. That group consists of officers of local political
parties.<br>
<br>
Sometimes a party chair is the most powerful individual in the city or
county, the individual who selects candidates and, if an elected official is disloyal, throws party support to another candidate in the next primary.
In other situations, the party chair is the mouthpiece for the mayor or

<b>Update</b>: December 16, 2012 (see below)<br>
<br>
The news has been full of information about billionaires sponsoring,
secretly and publicly, independent ads supporting and attacking
candidates as well as ballot initiatives. For instance, according to <a href="http://www.followthemoney.org/press/ReportView.phtml?r=437&PHPSESSID=46…; target="”_blank”">a

Former House majority leader Tom DeLay is currently on trial for
laundering
$200,000 in PAC contributions from corporate lobbyists through the
Republican National Committee to Texas candidates. In Texas, corporate
money cannot be used for political campaigns.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/us/politics/07delay.html&quot; target="”_blank”">an

<b>County Ethics Embraced By Its Cities and Towns</b><br>
Ethics reform won big in Palm Beach County on Tuesday. The final
tallies were published on Friday. According to <a href="http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/1024925.html&quot; target="”_blank”">an article in
yesterday's Palm Beach <i>Post</i></a>, every single city and town in the
county voted in favor of applying the county's code to their town.

Do expertise and conflicts go together more like love and marriage, or
like horse and carriage? In other words, are they necessary or are they
outdated in this age of government ethics?<br>
<br>
Interested people making important
decisions that affect their livelihood was the American way for
most of our nation's history. Beginning with Watergate,
the public has moved past this horse and carriage approach, toward a more selfless public service
where people deal responsibly with conflicts and do their best not to

Almost two years ago, <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/614">I
wrote about</a> the self-serving nature of attempts at ethics reform in
the village of Niles, outside Chicago. A lot has happened since then,
but in terms of an ethics program, not much.<br>
<br>

According to the Atlanta ethics office's <a href="http://www.atlantaga.gov/client_resources/government/boards/ethics_matt…; target="”_blank”">fall newsletter</a>, the Atlanta
Board of Ethics reached a settlement with a council member who sought
reimbursement from the city for costs related to her campaign
newsletter, including payments to campaign workers who distributed it