What do you do when an ethics commission is moribund? Sadly, few people
know and few people care. That is the norm. Rarely does an official
complain publicly, "I have no one to give me good ethics advice." She
just goes to the city or county attorney, or makes the decision
herself. Rarely does anyone complain that there is no ethics training
or nowhere to file an ethics complaint. And certainly no official
complains that he doesn't have to file a financial disclosure form
anymore.<br>
<br>

The usual image we get when we hear about a government official getting
something free
from a contractor is of a new kitchen or driveway. But free services
can
also be invisible, like legal advice and other professional service.<br>
<br>

It's important not to have pension board members with serious conflicts
of
interest, such as a personal interest in the board's investments,
or acting as providers of investment products (see <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/pension-board-reform-california&quot; target="”_blank”">my
blog
post</a> on California reforms prohibiting such conflicts).<br>
<br>

<b>Update:</b> August 9, 2010 (see below)<br>
<br>
You've got to hand it to them:  Broward County (FL) commissioners don't
give up. Some of them have fought and fought against the prospect of
having <a href="http://www.broward.org/EthicsCommission/Documents/CodeofEthics2010%20-%…; target="”_blank”">a
new ethics code</a>, written by the county ethics commission. August 10

It appeared to be a sign of sheer desperation when former Illinois
governor Rod Blagojevich's attorney, in his closing argument last week,
used as a defense the fact that Blagojevich isn't "the sharpest knife
in the drawer."<br>
<br>
But actually this is a real issue, at least in government ethics. It is
often hard to tell the difference between incompetence and misuse of
office. Take local government attorneys, for example. Many of them
consciously let

Yesterday, I wrote <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/intimidation-%E2%80%94-worst-offense-…; target="”_blank”">a blog post about intimidation</a>, but I forgot to
mention what might be the greatest fear among citizens relating to their
local government:  the fear that if they speak out against local
officials, especially school officials, it will affect their school-age
children.<br>
<br>

There is no greater pleasure for some people than accusing ethics
professionals and ethics commission members of unethical behavior. That
is why ethics professionals and ethics commission members have to be
extra careful about what they do, and why individuals who have not
dealt responsibly with conflicts of interest, at least in the recent
past, should not accept a nomination to an ethics commission.<br>
<br>
What no one wants to read is what is being written about the current

<b>Updates:</b> August 4 and 9, 2010 (see below)<br>
I was just saying to someone the other day that the worst offenses in
local government ethics do not involve money. The worst offenses in
local government ethics involve intimidation, which causes people to lose their peace of mind, their reputations, and the feeling that they may participate in their local government, things no amount of money can buy. And yet it is the rare ethics
complaint or arrest that primarily involves intimidation. Well, this

In March I wrote <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/matter-facts-or-law-la-crosse&quot; target="”_blank”">a
blog
post about a situation in La Crosse</a>, Wisconsin where the mayor
brought his father, who runs a refuse business, to meet with a county
official about a county solid waste assessment. A council member sought
advice from the city attorney rather than the city ethics board, and

There is an intriguing <a href="http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016575.html&quot; target="”_blank”">blog post on
Rick Hasen's Election Law Blog</a> this morning, entitled, Is
Reading a Legal Blog in One's Field Now Part of the Due Diligence of
Lawyers?<br>
<br>
This is not the wishful thinking of a blogger, but rather a response to