Gifts from restricted sources, that is, from those doing business with
the local government (and their lobbyists), are exceptionally damaging, in that they make the public believe their officials can be bought or that their officials are running a pay-to-play government. It's too bad that at least some members of the Los Angeles ethics commission don't recognize this.<br>
<br>

The <a href="http://www.drpa.org&quot; target="”_blank”">Delaware River Port Authority</a>
(DRPA) has been getting a lot of heat lately. The bi-state organization
operates four toll bridges and a commuter system between
Philadelphia and southern New Jersey.<br>
<br>

Here's a good followup to <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/officials-possibly-conflicting-intere…; target="”_blank”">yesterday's
blog
post</a> about a conflict of interest in Tucson. In that post, I
argued that annual financial disclosure makes it clear that an
official's basic interests are public information, and said, "The goal

Recusal is a two-part process. First, the official discloses his
interest in a matter that has or will come before his board or agency.
Then, the official does not participate in that matter.<br>
<br>
In Tucson, this process was distorted by the involvement of a board
attorney. According to <a href="http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_e1581d0f-d71c…; target="”_blank”">an

<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>

The Kansas City, MO ethics commission situation is a mess. Last month,
I wrote about the problem that arose regarding EC members who made
campaign contributions to candidates over whom they had jurisdiction,
leading to two resignations. Soon after, the council prohibited EC
members from making contributions, and two more members resigned, leaving
only three members. But that's only the icing on the cake.<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

<p>Below are the opinions of two candidates running in a primary for a
seat on the Effingham County, GA commission, which perfectly present
two very different views of local government ethics, one
pseudo-religious (people are good or bad), the other professional
(people
need guidance):</p>

Here's a clever way to abuse the advisory opinion process. A few months
after conduct begins, seek advice from the ethics commission. After the EC tells you it's okay, increase the amount of conduct so much that the advice is no
longer relevant, and then point to the advice in defense of the
conduct. Finally, refuse to provide information about the extent of the
conduct, so that no one can provide hard evidence that there is truly a change
in the extent of the conduct.<br>
<br>

What responsibility does a candidate have to check on those who make
contributions to his or her campaign? Is there a greater responsibility
when the candidate is running for a law enforcement position, from
sheriff to D.A. to judge?<br>
<br>
These questions were raised with respect to a situation in Dallas County, where the
sheriff accepted large contributions from two convicted felons,