<b>Update:</b> The bills discussed below passed the council on March 22.<br>
<br>
Just down the road from Philadelphia, Baltimore too is considering
ethics reforms, but it's in response to a scandal involving its past
mayor rather than in response to the work of a task force.<br>
<br>
There are two bills before the Baltimore council, both of them

Do <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_wall&quot; target="”_blank”">Chinese walls</a> (that is, mechanisms that separate someone from
information or involvement in a matter)
work in conflict situations in government? And what considerations determine whether they work or not?<br>
<br>
One consideration is whether, even with the Chinese wall, there is still an
appearance of a conflict. Another consideration is whether the

One of the biggest little problems in government ethics is the
inability to filter out very minor violations, which can be dealt with
either by dismissing the complaint or by requiring, say, an additional training
course. It is a waste of limited time and resources to investigate and hold hearings on minor
violations. An EC needs to be able to use its judgment to decide when a
violation is not worth investigating.<br>
<br>
Although it is hard to define what is a minor, or de minimis,

Last December, <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/ethics-reform-task-force-report-relea…; target="”_blank”">I
listed </a>the major recommendations of Philadelphia's Task Force on
Ethics and Campaign Finance

Influence. It's a big word in a lot of government ethics laws, and a
word that those who write such laws should think at least twice about.<br>
<br>
As everyone knows, New York Governor David Paterson has been accused by
the NY Commission on Public Integrity (CPI) of having violated the
state's gift ban by asking for and receiving five tickets to the first
game of last year's World Series, at Yankee Stadium. But the reports
are, of course, ignoring the language of the law. Here it is:<br>
<ul>

<a href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/20100303_Report__S__Jersey_auth…; target="”_blank”">An
article
in yesterday's Philadelphia <i>Inquirer</i></a> says that the state's

<br>
New York City's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has an ongoing problem
confusing his job as mayor, his ownership of a big media company, and
his philanthropic activities. One of the symptoms of this problem is
the unusual revolving door he provides for some of his closest advisers.<br>
<br>

<b>Governors Aren't Always Governors</b><br>
The involvement of New York governor David Paterson in his aide's
domestic abuse matter gets right to the heart of government ethics.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/nyregion/03paterson.html&quot; target="”_blank”">an
article in today's New York <i>Times</i></a>, Paterson told a state employee

<b>Update</b>: March 4, 2010<br>
I am placing this update up front because my consideration of the Committee of Seventy's criticism of the Philadelphia ethics board assumed the truth of the Committee's portrayal of the city's retirement law. Sadly, it turns out that it misrepresented the law, saying that the ethics board was unethically employing a loophole, when the ethics board's rehiring of its general counsel is expressly legal according to the retirement law.<br>
<br>

<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/cronyism-and-ethics&quot; target="”_blank”">I
recently noted</a> Oakland, CA's odd nepotism ordinance. Well, its <a href="http://www.oaklandnet.com/government/public_ethics/webpage.html#4&quot; target="”_blank”">Public
Ethics Commission</a> is also odd, and worthy of a look. I was alerted