It's official. According to <a href="http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_13445835&quot; target="”_blank”"><b>an article</b></a> in
yesterday's Salt Lake City <i>Tribune</i>, a comprehensive <a href="http://www.utahnsforethicalgovernment.org/finalversion.petition.pdf&quot; target="”_blank”"><b>ethics

A week ago I wrote a <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/preferential-treatment-fairness-and-p…; target="”_blank”"><b>blog
post</b></a> about preferential treatment, emphasizing
that the way to distinguish preferential treatment from ordinary
decisions and transactions,
where someone is commonly preferred over others, is by whether the treatment
is fair and

One of the more interesting battles in the civil war among Maricopa
County elected officials is the Battle of the Civil Division. When the
county attorney indicted County Supervisor Don Stapley in December
2008, the board of supervisors decided to take away the county
attorney's civil division and create a separate county civil law
department.<br>
<br>

A central dispute in the first group of charges brought against
Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley involved whether he was required
to disclose properties held by a company he owned, as long as he listed
the company among his assets. Stapley felt this was not required.<br>
<br>

Both times Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley has had criminal
charges brought against him, the counts included perjury charges for
omissions on disclosure forms (<a href="http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2008/12/sheriff_joe_arpaio…; target="”_blank”"><b>2008

Michael J. Sandel's famous introduction to ethical philosophy course at
Harvard University, <i>Justice</i>,
is becoming available on video both <a href="http://www.justiceharvard.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=categor…; target="”_blank”"><b>online</b></a>
and on many PBS stations across the country (dates and times vary; in some

<b>Update:</b> 9/30/09<br>
I was asked to do a short interview on Phoenix's NPR station KJZZ
yesterday, to provide a government ethics view on issues relating to the latest battle in
the uncivil war among elected officials in Maricopa County, the county
that includes Phoenix. My research into what is going on raised all
sorts of interesting issues. I'll deal with them in multiple blog posts.<br>
<br>
First, what happened. County Sheriff Joe Arpaio arrested County

When a congressman goes after a lawyer whose organization filed an
ethics complaint against him (in his capacity as Colorado's secretary
of state), you know he is more interested in getting even than he is in
the public interest. Getting even, however, is not what public servants should be doing.<br>
<br>

Recusal is a touchy subject for government officials, for two principal
reasons. One, withdrawing from a matter can appear to constitute an
admission of misconduct. This is because so many people, and even
ethics codes, consider it wrong to have a conflict. Actually, recusing
oneself is a way of dealing responsibly with a conflict, and is the
opposite of misconduct.<br>
<br>
Two, raising the issue of a conflict can disclose information the
official would rather keep personal. After all, the conflict involved

When a government employee holds or runs for elective office, there can
be conflict of interest problems. The principal problem occurs when the
government employee has to participate in a matter that directly or
indirectly affects his or her agency or department. Whether there is a
conflict depends on how direct the effect is. Another problem involves running for office in violation of the federal Hatch Act.<br>
<br>