<br><h1 class="auto-style1">Local Government Ethics Programs 2.0:</h1>
<h2>A Resource for Ethics Commission Members, Local Officials,<br>
Attorneys, Journalists, and Students,<br>
And a Manual for Ethics Reform</h2>
<h4>by <strong>Robert Wechsler</strong>, Director of Research-Retired
at City Ethics</h4></p>
<h2>The second edition of this comprehensive book about local<br>government ethics programs. <b>And it's free!</b></h2>

<a href="http://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/mayor/Press%20Room/…; target="”_blank”">The

A few issues arise in the case of a Pennsylvania state senator who
reached a settlement this week with the state's ethics commission
that included a fine of $21,000, according to <a href="http://www.timesherald.com/article/20120426/NEWS03/120429615/-1/news&qu…; target="”_blank”">an
article in yesterday's Montgomery County <i>Times Herald</i></a>.<br>
<br>

Well worth reading, as a encapsulated version of what is essential

Although in 2008, Orange County, Florida's Ethics and Campaign
Finance Reform Task Force recommended (report attached; see below)
that the county have an ethics board selected by a variety of
community organizations, following the model of Miami/Dade County,
and Section 2-457 of the <a href="http://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientId=10182&quot; target="”_blank”">county
ordinances</a> did provide for (with liberal use of the magic word

University of Maryland Law School professor Deborah Hellman recently
put the draft of her law review article, "<a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2021188&quot; target="”_blank”">Defining
Corruption and Constitutionalizing Democracy</a>" (forth. Mich. L.
Rev (Vol. 111)), on SSRN. The core argument of her paper is that
defining legislative corruption requires a theory of the

This week, a citizen in the village of Niles, IL (pop. 30,000) made
a proposal for applicant disclosure, something every ethics program
should have, but most do not. According to <a href="http://niles.suntimes.com/news/12092763-418/niles-ethics-board-defers-d…; target="”_blank”">an
article in yesterday's Niles <i>Herald-Spectator</i></a>, the proposal

Today, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/business/at-wal-mart-in-mexico-a-brib…; target="”_blank”">the
New York <i>Times</i> ran a length investigatory report</a> on Walmart's
extensive bribery of local Mexican officials intended to rush
through permits and zoning approvals, reduce environmental impact
fees, and gain the allegiance of these officials.<br>
<br>

<h4>"God helps those who help themselves, and you certainly did that."</h4><br>

For the second time in a year, a local ethics commission has been
the subject of a grand jury report. The first was San Francisco's
(see <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/civil-grand-jury-report-san-francisco…; target="”_blank”">my
blog post</a>). There, it was a civil grand jury and the focus was
on the commission. Here and now, it is a criminal grand jury, and