It came to my attention in an interview with Professor James
Svara, for a paper I am writing for the journal <i>Public Integrity</i>,
that in March 2013, the American Society for Public
Administration (ASPA) made substantial — sometimes beneficial, sometimes
harmful, sometimes baffling — changes to its Code of Ethics (the
revised code is attached; see below). This post will look at the
changes that involve conflicts of interest.<br>
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Within Election Law Center blogger <a href="http://www.electionlawcenter.com/2013/08/16/robert-wechsler-speech-regu…; target="”_blank”">Christian Adams' recent ad hominem attack on me</a> is an idea that is worth
discussing. He said that, in requiring candidate committees to come
to me for permission (what is commonly referred to as "ethics

There are two ways to write a nepotism provision. One is to have a
short, straightforward prohibition, and allow requests for a waiver
under special circumstances. The most frequent circumstance would be
a small town or school system where there are not a lot of prospective employees
to choose from.<br>
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The other way is the one chosen by Louisiana:  three pages of
exceptions from the general rule (attached; see below).<br>
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There are two ways to define "family" in terms of a nepotism

Five years ago, I wrote <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/569&quot; target="”_blank”">a blog post about gifts
and reciprocity</a>, based on a classic anthropological work, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gift-Imagination-Erotic-Life-Property/dp/03947151…; target="”_blank”">Lewis

The second edition of this comprehensive book about local
government ethics programs. And it's free!

See more details here: <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/ethics%20book"><i><b>Local Government Ethics Programs 2.0,</i></b></a>

The idea of a designated driver was a great idea (thank you,
Scandinavia). The idea of the designated hitter was a lousy idea
(yes, I'm a National Leaguer).<br>
<br>
How about a designated ethics aide? A staff member assigned by a
local legislator, or department or agency head, to be her point person on conflicts
of interest is much more like a designated driver than a designated
hitter. Like someone with a few drinks under her belt, an official
in a conflict situation has a blurry vision of her conflicts and

It is very damaging when a government official misrepresents ethics
advice he has been given. What should an ethics officer or
commission do when this happens? In many cases, such advice,
especially when it is provided informally, is confidential. When an
official makes a public statement about such advice, the EC
spokesperson can say nothing but "No comment." This allows the
official to say whatever he likes.<br>
<br>
This situation was answered skillfully by the Massachusetts Ethics

Gifts to a local official can fall between jurisdictional cracks, as
shown in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/nyregion/tech-magnates-bet-on-booker-…; target="”_blank”">an
article today in the New York <i>Times</i></a>. They can also fall between
definitional cracks. And between these cracks it's gray.<br>
<br>

Yesterday, <a href="http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20130806/STATE/308060018/DOC-of…; target="”_blank”">Oregon's
<i>Statesman Journal</i> reported</a> an interesting case that involves a
number of important government ethics issues.<br>
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The state's Department of Corrections (DOC) deputy director
allegedly used his position to influence an Oregon Corrections

Once again, the failure to work out in advance the relationship
between an ethics commission and an inspector general's office has
led to the locking of horns in the midst of an ethics proceeding.
This time the location of the turf war is the District of Columbia.<br>
<br>