Should advisory board and task
force members be excepted from conflict of interest rules? Jurisdictions disagree about this. Some believe that, when a
board has no authority to act or implement, the usual rules should not
apply. The principal argument is that there are times when a government
needs to get people with opposing interests together — such as business
and union interests — in order to hash out community problems. Another
argument is the need for expertise.<br>
<br>

A couple of months ago, the Ohio Ethics Commission did something very
wise and valuable:  it drafted <a href="http://www.ethics.ohio.gov/Opinions/2010-03.html&quot; target="”_blank”">an advisory
opinion on nepotism rules</a>, gathering information from years of
partial, specific advisory opinions, and providing examples. It even
gives excellent definitions of each of the relevant terms, including

<a href="http://www.ci.san-marcos.tx.us/index.html">San Marcos</a> (TX)
Council candidate Toby Hooper, in his first public statement as a candidate, said some of the right things about ethics:<br>
<br>
On the role of an ethics
commission (he's a member of the city's ethics review commission):<br>
<br>

<a href="http://www.ajc.com/business/connections-count-at-law-592015.html&quot; target="”_blank”">Last
Saturday's
Atlanta <i>Journal-Constitution</i> ran a long article</a>, "Connections Count
at Law Firm," on the Washington/Atlanta-based law firm <a href="http://www.mckennalong.com/&quot; target="”_blank”">McKenna Long & Aldridge</a>.

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

The law on limiting campaign expenditures has been changing over the
past couple of years. But the law on limiting campaign contributions
has not.
The standard in many instances is more liberal than with campaign expenditures, in others it is the
same. And the application of the standard is highly contextual. A law in one jurisdiction, or at a particular time, might be constitutional, while in another jurisdiction, or at a different time, it is not.<br>
<br>
Contribution limits are an important part of government ethics,

A new way to obtain ethics reform is making some headway in New York
State. A number of former bigwigs, including former governor Mario
Cuomo, and former NYC mayors Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani, have created an
organization called <a href="http://www.nyuprising.org">New York

According to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/nyregion/17authorities.html?_r=1&ref=…; target="”_blank”">an
article
in yesterday's New York <i>Times</i></a>, the New York Governor’s Task
Force on Public Authorities Reform has filed its report (not yet

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

The defense of legislative immunity is not limited to city councilors and county
commissioners. It also can be used by non-legislative officials acting in a
legislative way. It may be used by planning and
zoning board members and officials, school board members, and a variety
of other officials involved in the creation of legislation or who act in a legislative manner.<br>
<br>
Here's an interesting case of a non-legislative official trying out a
defense of legislative immunity and, fortunately, failing. The official