While I was away on vacation, the new, quasi-independent Office of
Congressional Ethics (OCE) was in the news a lot.<br>
<br>
<b>Going Outside of Congress</b><br>
First, it did
something that made it appear more than the paper tiger <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/721">I called it a year ago</a>.

I am conducting a national research study on government ethics programs with a focus on training. This research is being done in connection with the Ethics Center of the University of North Florida. Cities across the U.S. are being studied as to their ethics program structure, training requirements and training methods.

According to <a href="http://ilind.net/2010/05/17/city-ethics-chair-resigns-to-avoid-violatio…; target="”_blank”">an
iLind.net blog post this week</a>, the chair of the Honolulu Ethics

<br>
According to <a href="http://www.cdobs.com/archive/syndicated/peraica-introduces-new-ethics-o…; target="”_blank”">an
article in yesterday's Chicago <i>Daily Observer</i></a>, Cook County

There was <a href="http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2010/05/17/opinion/483660.txt&quot; target="”_blank">a
fascinating editorial</a> in the Waterbury (CT) <i>Republican-American</i>
yesterday. The editorial turns anti-government anger against the idea of a local government ethics program, and yet it has some valuable things
to say about government ethics. Here's an edited version of it:<br>
<ul>

<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/comparison-two-county-ethics-initiati…; target="”_blank”">A
week ago, I wrote</a> about the weaknesses of an ethics initiative in

Is the partisanship of local government elections a government ethics
issue? I think it is, partly.<br>
<br>

<b>A Good Discussion of a Possible Conflict</b><br>
It's good to see ethics discussions where both sides have good
arguments to make. According to <a href="http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100513/PUB0…; target="”_blank">an

Misinformation is rampant in local government ethics. And the less
people understand it, the easier it is for the misinformation to be
taken at face value.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=6168&quot; target="”_blank">an article
in yesterday's <i>Dispatch</i></a>, in Columbus, a city of 24,000 in eastern

I was reminded today that Sen. Arlen Specter, who recently switched
from the Republican party to the Democratic party, voted against Elena
Kagan's appointment as solicitor-general. He now appears likely to support her
appointment to the Supreme Court. This raised the issue in my
mind:  is it
ever right for an elected official to vote on an appointment on purely
partisan grounds?<br>
<br>
Not surprisingly, the same issue arose this week at the local level, in