We don't know why the Summit County developer is running for a council seat (see
the most recent blog entry), but we do know why a sheriff's sergeant in
Rancho Murieta, California, is running for the Sacramento County
Community Services District Board: to get off-duty sheriff's deputies
to provide security in his area. And according to <a href="http://ranchomurieta.com/node/7112&quot; target="”_blank”">an article on

Expertise is one of the most difficult issues in local government
ethics. In most cases, more expertise also means more potential
conflicts of interest, and yet it can also mean more effective
government. According to a<a href="http://www.parkrecord.com/todaysheadlines/ci_10719647&quot; target="”_blank”">n article
in yesterday's Park Record</a> (Park City, UT), a Summit County Council

According to <a href="http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-2/12225760593…; target="”_blank”">an
editorial in the New Jersey Star-Ledger</a>, Gov. Corzine has set forth
a number of ethics reforms, which focus on cities and counties, where

According to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/us/politics/11trooper.html&quot; target="”_blank”">an
article in today's New York Times</a> and in <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/10/lawmakers-emerge-from-ses_n_13…; target="”_blank”">yesterday's

The New York <i>Times</i> has an excellent <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/business/economy/09greenspan.html&quot; target="”_blank”">article</a>
today on Alan Greenspan in relation to the current
financial crisis. It provides food for thought about government regulation at
any level.<br>
<br>
Essentially, Greenspan believes that the cause of the crisis is Wall

If you have a city car, why bother having your own? If you have a
county cellphone, why bother having your own? If you have an honor system, why bother honoring it?<br>

In Bellingham, Massachusetts, according to <a href="http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x676814177/Moderator-says-he-quit-…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the Milford Daily News</a>, a town meeting moderator whose
firm was also town attorney resigned as moderator when his firm was
replaced as town attorney. He did this, he said, not out of spite, but
because he would now represent clients before town boards and

<i>Update: Later in the day, according to <a href="http://onthehillblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/pelosi-calls-on-paulson-to-st… report in On the Hill</a>, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on the Treasury Secretary to strengthen the conflict of interest requirements discussed below.</i><br>
<br>
The bailout, pursuant to the Emergency Economic
Stabilization Act of 2008, is being contracted out to financial

<i>Updated Oct. 10, 2008; see final three paragraphs</i><br>
<br>
New York City is in a crisis. But its mayor and 2/3 of its City Council
will have to leave office due to term limits imposed by referendum in
the 1990s.<br>
<br>
Mayor Bloomberg wants to get rid of term limits, and Ronald Lauder, the billionaire who backed the term limits referenda campaigns, wants them suspended for the 2009 election, due to the financial crisis and its devastating effects on New

"I just don't see it that there would be any motivation in such that
people would be trying to evade Freedom of Information
responsibilities."<br>
<br>
--Thomas Mooney, attorney for firm that represents numerous school
districts and municipalities in Connecticut, regarding a recent growth