<b>It's Not the Dead Bodies, It's the Living Ones</b><br>
"He knows where the bodies are buried at Metro." According to a
local mayor as quoted in <a href="http://www.mapleridgenews.com/news/239509171.html&quot; target="”_blank”">an
article yesterday in the Surrey North <i>Delta Leader</i></a>, this is an
important qualification for someone going from Metro Vancouver (BC)

In <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/nyregion/in-calm-of-a-nature-reserve-…; target="”_blank”">a
New York <i>Times</i> column today</a>, Michael Powell has unearthed an
ugly-looking government ethics situation in New Jersey involving apparent misuse of government ethics authority to win a vote.<br>
<br>

According to <a href="http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/21233-do-bank-of-america…; target="”_blank”">a
recent Reader Supported News article</a>, ethics allegations
have been made in Montpelier regarding two high-level officials. Both allegations are worthy of a closer look.<br>
<br>
According to the article, the mayor of Montpelier, the state

When the criminal justice system finds that government officials are
involved in a conspiracy to pursue illegal conduct in an
environment of fear and intimidation, they bring racketeering
charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations
Act (RICO). This is what happened with the Atlanta schools cheating
scandal. According to <a>an
article in today's New York <i>Times</i></a>, six more educators pleaded
guilty to being part of the conspiracy, bringing the total to 17.

There is lobbying, and then there is lobbying. One of the most
difficult things about regulating lobbying is defining what it means
to lobby. And according to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/01/opinion/edsall-the-unlobbyists.html&q…; target="”_blank”">an

Here is the story of a good settlement reached in an Ohio ethics
proceeding involving a council member from a very small city.
According to <a href="http://www.cantonrep.com/article/20140102/NEWS/140109915&quot; target="”_blank”">a
recent article in the Canton <i>Rep</i></a>, the council member voted on
an addendum to the lease of a golf course despite the fact that he
lived on adjoining property. He admitted to having violated the

According to <a href="http://seguingazette.com/news/article_736afcb4-725f-11e3-86f9-0019bb296…; target="”_blank”">an
article yesterday in the Seguin (TX) <i>Gazette</i></a>, there will be a
perfectly ordinary local government ethics occurrence next Monday in
Seguin, a town of 25,000 outside San Antonio: the city's ethics
commission will meet in closed session to discuss a recently filed

The role of the city or county attorney in an ethics program
continues to be a major bone of contention, despite the fact that
government ethics professionals generally take the position that the
city or county attorney should not be involved in an ethics program.<br>
<br>
The latest locale for this dispute is Jefferson Parish, a suburb of

<b>The Boss of the Ethics Director's Bosses</b><br>
According to <a href="http://www.free-times.com/news/123013-government-watchdog-sues-state-et…; target="”_blank”">an

I am a proponent of ethics waivers. But only if they are provided by
an independent ethics commission. When they are provided by
high-level officials or their appointees, they appear to be
self-serving. Why self-serving? Because they create precedents that
will enable those who make the precedents to themselves get ethics
waivers.<br>
<br>
Westchester County, NY has an ethics waiver process that allows the