Indefinite benefits, like indirect benefits, are often not dealt with
by ethics codes, and this means that they can cause confusion and controversy. This is one reason I
tend to speak in terms of "possible conflicts," because possible
conflicts based on indefinite benefits can be just as injurious to the
public trust as certain conflicts based on certain benefits.<br>
<br>
In the current situation in Cincinnati, it is not certain whether the
streetcar project will benefit the council member's family firm, nor is

A government official's relationships -- to family, employer, business -- are very important to determining whether
conflicts exist. Both the
type and the directness of each relationship are also important.<br>
<br>
Here again are the basic facts of the situation in Cincinnati that I

There is a situation involving a Cincinnati council member that touches
on many important government ethics issues, which I will deal with it
in multiple blog posts over the next couple of days. In this post, I
will set out the basic facts and the issues.<br>
<br>
The council member works for a development company owned by his father
and his uncle, but has no ownership interest in the firm. The firm owns
or has development rights to nine properties within three blocks of a proposed

A capable individual decides to run for city council against an
incumbent who has been on the council since long before the mayor got
involved in politics (in other words, the incumbent owes nothing to the
mayor and is in no way under the mayor's control). The mayor asks a
former mayor to try to convince the candidate to drop out of the race,
and allows the former mayor to offer the candidate an unpaid position
on a city commission.<br>
<br>

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