County Related

The DiMasi case, discussed in the most recent blog entry, is not the only ethics case in Massachusetts that has drawn a lot of attention. The result of a perception of increasing ethical misconduct has led the governor to appoint a new task force on public integrity, according to an editorial in today's Boston Globe with an inapt plumbing metaphor in its...

This week, another state ethics commission is facing a defense of legislative immunity. The state is Massachusetts, and the legislator happens to be the speaker of the house, Sal DiMasi.

According to an article in the Boston Globe, one allegation against DiMasi (filed, at least in part, by the opposing political party) is that associates of his,...

I recently discovered that, in May, the Austin's Office of the City Auditor did an extensive report on the city's ethics program, and compared it with 16 comparable American cities (Arlington (TX), Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Kansas City (MO or KS?), Memphis, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, San Diego, San Jose, and Seattle).

This report has...

One of the most important elements of any government ethics program is ethical hiring. Ethical hiring lowers the possibility of hiring people with serious conflicts of interest not only by being careful about the selection process, but also by sending a clear message that conflicts are serious business and must be disclosed even before an official is hired. Unethical people will find the hiring process, and the thought of working for people who would put them through it, unacceptable and will...

See update below
A central element of government ethics is that preferential treatment is bad. Preferential treatment is bad when it involves favoring officials' businesses or family members over other businesses and individuals. Preferential treatment is even bad when it involves officials' favorite charities. And preferential treatment is especially bad when it involves officials' religions.

What makes me say that this is especially bad? Because it's in the...

California's Proposition 11 raises an interesting conflict of interest issue for local governments whose council members represent districts. Proposition 11 is "a plan to set up a 14-member citizens commission to draw district boundaries for state Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization seats. State lawmakers currently have that power."