Watch this very cool www.transparency.org video on corruption:<br><br>

How often should ethics commissions meet?<br>
<br>
The usual answer to that question is, As often as they need to. But how
often is that?<br>
<br>

Most of the <a href="http://reformillinoisnow.org/press%20releases/IRC%20100-Day%20Report%20…; target="”_blank”">Illinois
Reform Commission's report</a>, which was published yesterday, has
little to do with local government ethics, but there is enough overlap
to make it worth skimming through. The IRC was charged with recommending changes in the state's ethics and campaign finance programs.<br>
<br>

Throughout the Internet, there is interest in what is most
popular, what is most viewed and linked to. So below is a list of the top 20 of my blog
posts from 2008 and 2009 in terms of having had the most hits.<br>
<br>
Later, I'll do the top 20 from the earlier years, which have had more
time to accumulate hits.<br>
<br>

Local government officials often defend halfway ethics reforms by
saying that they're just the beginning, and that something is better
than nothing. But halfway reforms are often effectively little more
than nothing, especially in the area of enforcement. "Window dressing"
is one term for such reforms. "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_tiger&quot; target="”_blank”">Paper tiger</a>" is
another.<br>
<br>

Massachusetts has an
interesting, but I think limited <a href="http://www.mass.gov/ethics/web268A.htm&quot; target="”_blank”">ethics provision</a> that applies to local government board members and jobs under their board's supervision:<br>
<br>

Requiring supermajority votes by ethics commissions to find probable
cause or a violation is probably the best obstacle elected officials can
place in the way of effective ethics enforcement. This is especially true of
the probable cause phase, if there is one.<br>
<br>

<br>
<big><span>If I am corrupt, it is because I
take care of my district.<br>
<br>
</span></big>—Rep. John P. Murtha (PA)<br>
<br>
Click for <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/490&quot; target="”_blank”">more on this topic</a>.<br>
<br>

Here's an ethics story from Orlando with a good ending. It emphasizes <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/715&quot; target="”_blank”">what I wrote recently</a>,
that government ethics involves dealing responsibly with conflict
situations.<br>
<br>

<b>See Update Below</b><br>
At a <a href="http://evans.washington.edu/node/2146&quot; target="”_blank”">University of
Washington panel</a> on Thursday, U.S. Attorney for the Northern
District of Illinois, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, known most recently for
his investigation and arrest of Gov. Blagojevich, spoke about
corruption in government and what can be done about it.<br>
<br>