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>

In May, <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/comparison-two-county-ethics-initiati…; target="”_blank”">I wrote a critical assessment</a> of the <a href="http://www.wbcitizensvoice.com/pdfs/Ethics%20Pledge.pdf&quot; target="”_blank”">Luzerne

The Jacksonville City Council's Sub-Committee on the Charter Review Commission's (which only meets every 10 years) findings met yesterday 07-09-2010 to hear public testimony on any aspects of the CRC's findings. There were about 20 people who spoke, and all but one were there to encourage the committee to implement the Jacksonville Ethics Commissions recommendations regarding inclusion of the Ethics Commission in the city's charter.

Using government employees for private purposes is one of the most
common ethics code violations.<br>
<br>
This violation is especially bad because it involves coercion of
individuals, in this case subordinates who are not in a position to say
no. Coercion and intimidation rarely occur outside of a poor
ethical environment.<br>
<br>
This violation also shows a serious failure to recognize the boundary
between public and private, which is the heart of government ethics.<br>
<br>

<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/us/politics/06charity.html?_r=1&adxnn…; target="”_blank”">The
lead article in yesterday's New York <i>Times</i></a> was on charities set up
by members of congress. I've written a few times about the use of

In order to develop their identities, and cement the loyalties of their members, organizations tend to contrast themselves with other organizations, and with those they deal with, whether they are clients, customers, or citizens. Bailey wrote, “If contact with outsiders is experienced as painful and involves rejection, organizational solidarity is likely to be enhanced." In other words, in the local government context, seeing citizens as irritants creates solidarity.<br>
<br>

One of the problems in talking about conflicts of interest is that we
tend to assume that people with conflicts analyze their situations
before acting. We think that, for example, they balance acting in their
personal interest, or in the interest of a family member or business
associate, against the consequences of getting caught. Or we think that
the principal ethical considerations they bring to bear on their
situation arise from their local code of ethics or their spiritual or
philosophical beliefs.<br>
<br>

Bailey has a word for putting the organization ahead of the individual:  holism (as opposed to individualism). What
complicates this concept in government is that there are two wholes,
the organization itself and the community it works for. One of the
things that most determines a local government's ethical environment is
which of the two wholes an official or employee is most supposed to put
above his or her personal interest.<br>
<br>

<b>Update:</b> September 6, 2010 (see below)<br>
<br>
For many local government employees, gratuities are the principal way
in which an ethics code affects them, because many ethics code prohibit
gratuities. But are they really a government ethics issue? In other
words, does a government employee, say a sanitation worker, have a
conflict or create an appearance of impropriety by accepting a tip from
a citizen for whom he has done routine work?<br>
<br>

The Missouri Ethics Commission has put up <a href="http://www.mec.mo.gov/WebDocs/Training/SB844Overview/index.htm&quot; target="”_blank”">a
nice slideshow-with-audio presentation</a> on the many <a href="http://www.mec.mo.gov/EthicsWeb/Feature.aspx&quot; target="”_blank”">changes made</a>