Here are two interesting local government ethics case studies from
matters in the news this week.<br>
<br>
<b>A Job Can Effectively Be a Gift</b><br>
According to <a href="http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/oct/22/in-brief-woman-reports-rap…; target="_blank">an
article in the <i>Spokesman-Review</i></a>,

<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/legal-defense-funds-misuse-office-and…
talked</a> about legal defense funds in the past as a way to accept
large gifts from those doing business with a local government, but I
referred, tangentially, to only one local government legal
defense fund, <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/411">that of

Possibly the most valuable annual local government ethics resource was
published this morning:  Patricia Salkin's <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1493502">2009 Ethical
Considerations in Land Use</a>, a 28-page summary of reported cases and

Can grades be evidence of a conflict of interest? This is what the Cook
County prosecutor's office is effectively arguing, according to <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-alvarez-first-yearoct20,0,393695…
article in the Chicago <i>Tribune</i></a>. <br>
<br>
Northwestern University journalism students spent three years
researching a criminal case, in which they believe that a man was

<br>
<b>Updates:</b> November 28, 2009 (see below, with December 23 correction)<br>
<br>
When a local government official co-owns a company, is it enough to
create a separate company owned solely by another co-owner to do
business with the official's city?<br>
<br>

<a href="http://www.texaswatchdog.org/2009/10/hisd-ethics-loophole-leaves-meals-…
article</a> on the Texas Watchdog website focuses on a serious loophole
in the Texas gift disclosure policy, which applies to local government

It's always nice to see politicians provide evidence for the argument
that ethics self-regulation doesn't work, but it's rare for it to
happen in so public a way as occurred yesterday. According to <a href="http://www.rollcall.com/issues/55_45/news/39780-1.html">an
article in Roll Call</a>, Rep. John Carter (R-TX), "the point man for
Republicans seeking to strip Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel

<b>Quote after Quote in Paris</b><br>
Earlier this month the French president's son supplied me with a <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/quote-day">quote of the day.</a> Now he has announced he will not pursue a job his father used to have,
and he has supplied me with another quote of the day:<br>
<ul>If the question you are asking me is,
‘Did you talk to the president

Is political deal-making a government ethics violation? This is a tough
area. Government ethics is about the conflict of personal and public
interests. Political interests are generally left out of the equation
unless non-political benefits are involved. In politics, you are allowed
to put your personal interests first, at least until you win.<br>
<br>

 A few days ago, I wrote a <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/irresponsible-handling-possible-confl…
post</a> about how several government officials in Wausau mishandled a
conflict situation involving the purchase of property fixed up with an
interest-free loan from HUD. Yesterday's <i>The State</i> of South Carolina