Ethics Commissions/Administration

The New Orleans Ethics Review Board, formed in 2006, certainly wins an A for independence. According to the city ethics code, six of its seven members are chosen by the mayor (with council approval) from nominees submitted by the heads of five local private universities (the seventh is the mayor's to select). Unfortunately, the result is that the majority of board members work at the...

Government ethics policies sometimes clash. The most common clash involving ethics commissions is with transparency laws.

Like any government body, ethics commissions would prefer not to discuss many sorts of matters in public, both to protect the parties involved and because it is uncomfortable to discuss many ethics matters in public. Because counsel is present during most such discussions, ECs (and their lawyers) often feel that such discussions are privileged. There are also...

"I must say regretfully that ... what I have heard is a statement I can only describe as arrogant, unrepentant, and a smear on this institution.  Everybody does not do it.  Members of this body attempt, by word and deed, publicly and privately, to take great care with their personal conduct as it might be perceived by the American people.  That is equally true for Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives.  I have found that to be the only unifying thread in this body.  For the...

Here's a mind-twister of a situation, from St. Marys City (GA; pop 17,000). According to an article on jacksonville.com, four members of the city council wrote the state attorney general asking for a ruling on whether a fifth council member violated state law by refusing to disqualify himself from voting on the proposed relocation of the St. Marys Airport...

Republican candidates in Cumberland County, in southern New Jersey (pop. 150,000), are pushing for several ethics reforms, including some fresh ideas.

According to an article in the Press of Atlantic City and an article on nj.com,...

Jacksonville's ethics commission continues to explore interesting and valuable ideas, according to an article this week in the Jacksonville Financial News & Daily Record. At the first meeting of the commission's new procurement subcommittee, loopholes in the bidding process were discussed.