According to <a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/630063.html&quot; target="”_blank”">a
recent article</a> in the Fort Worth <span>Star-Telegram</span>,
Fort Worth's mayor, Mike Moncrief, made $633,000 last year from the oil
and gas business. He also has an interest in several real estate
developments. A committee, appointed by the mayor and council, will

Form of government issues are not generally considered to be part of
government ethics.  But they are intertwined in important ways.<br>
<br>
This can be seen from the New York City Council slush fund
scandal.  According to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/nyregion/11council.html&quot; target="”_blank”">an
article</a> in today's New York Times, it began when the Board of

Ethics complaints are often brought for purely political reasons, and
election time is the favorite time for bringing them.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/05/attorney_opinion_ma… article</a> in yesterday's <i>Flint Journal, </i>a Thetford Township
Supervisor brought an ethics complaint before his own board against a

Elizabeth Wolgast’s 1992 book, <i>Ethics of an Artificial Person: Lost Responsibility in Professions and Organizations,</i> raises some very important government ethics questions. I will deal with just one of them here.

The term “artificial persons” includes lawyers and government officials who are considered to act in the name of others. Wolgast’s book looks at the problems such artificial persons cause with respect to our ordinary views of such ethical issues as responsibility and accountability.

Ethics in a small town can be very problematic when one large company with special property interests comes into town. Whether it is a developer, a landfill owner, or other sort of business that seeks to get property or expand its holdings at an inexpensive price, its needs often lead it to tempt individual local government officials or dominate the town's politics.

Everyone knows it’s not right for government officials to favor their friends, but because friendships are so difficult to define, they don’t appear in ethics codes. Relatives can be defined, domestic partners can be defined, business associates can be defined, but not boyfriends or pals or old buddies. This is one of the limitations of dealing with ethics in the form of a law.

Confidentiality is a sticky issue in ethics investigations. It appears to be the norm, but many people do not seem to understand why it exists, or what duties it creates.

Back to New York City, where more information is coming out about the special “slush” funds given out to city council members.

What’s been happening recently in Lincoln, Nebraska, concerning city officials having contracts with the city, provides food for thought on a few basic conflicts of interest issues.

One issue is whether city officials and employees should be allowed to have contracts with the city. Or are full and open bidding provisions enough? Or full disclosure?

Another issue is whether a city council is the right body to decide this question.

Yet another issue is the inclusiveness of conflicts language.

Once again, the New York Times has <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/nyregion/25council.html&quot; target="”_blank”">an article</a> today that touches on municipal ethics issues. A municipal scandal does wonders.