I just finished reading the classic political science book Who Governs?
Democracy and Power in an American City by Robert A. Dahl
(Yale University Press, 1961). It might have been the second time
around, because I did take an Urban Politics course forty years ago. The book happens to focus on
New Haven, the city in whose suburbs I live and whose public
campaign financing program I used to administer. ...
The story of state legislative interference with local government
ethics programs in Florida continues with a newly amended bill in
the state senate (SB 1474 is attached; see below), sponsored by senator Joe
Abruzzo, whose antagonism to the Palm Beach County ethics program
has been the subject of three City Ethics blog posts in the past
year (audit
of the Palm Beach County...
Colorado has an extremely dysfunctional ethics program, everyone is
complaining about it, but approaches to fixing it are sometimes just as
dysfunctional. A year ago, I wrote three blog posts about its
problems and people's complaints (total
gift ban; lack of
independence, including ethics commission members...
According to an
editorial yesterday in the Luzerne County (PA) Citizens Voice,
the Luzerne County council, on advice of the county
attorney, is planning to hold an executive session tomorrow to
discuss changes to its ethics code. The editorial says it would be wrong to hold an executive session.
The county attorney's reasoning is that the changes...
Sometimes Withdrawal and Formal Processes Are Not Enough
It never looks good when a high-level elected official gets a job
with the government while in office or soon after leaving office. It
looks like he got the job because of his influence and relationships
with those who made the decision.