Family Members/Nepotism

Vernon, CA, the subject of several blog posts here (click here for the latest), has been the object of criminal investigations, but now local officials are starting to get creative in response to the most creatively imagined city in the U.S.

Government pensions are one of the most serious issues facing local and state governments. Most pension plans are underfunded, and the generous pensions, the relatively short vesting periods, and the low retirement ages that allow for at least one more career, not only cost taxpayers a great deal of money, but seem unfair to those without pensions or with far worse pension situations.

This is not an area where government officials should want to add apparent conflicts to the mix,...

Those who, like me, are fascinated by Vernon, California, the ultimate company town, with an ethical environment that breaks nearly all the rules, will be happy to know that it was given a long treatment in a front-page article in Sunday's Los Angeles Times. There are no new revelations, but a few good quotes.

From state Assemblyman Hector De La Torre:  "It's...

The lead article in yesterday's New York Times was on charities set up by members of congress. I've written a few times about the use of charities to get around campaign finance and gift provisions (...

A couple of months ago, the Ohio Ethics Commission did something very wise and valuable:  it drafted an advisory opinion on nepotism rules, gathering information from years of partial, specific advisory opinions, and providing examples. It even gives excellent definitions of each of the relevant terms, including such generally applicable terms as "public contract"  and "anything of value."

Update: August 9, 2010 (see below)

You've got to hand it to them:  Broward County (FL) commissioners don't give up. Some of them have fought and fought against the prospect of having a new ethics code, written by the county ethics commission. August 10 is the deadline by which they must either approve the new ethics code, or it will appear on the...