In the news

Update: Later in the day, according to a report in On the Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on the Treasury Secretary to strengthen the conflict of interest requirements discussed below.

The bailout, pursuant to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, is being contracted out to financial professionals, who will almost definitely have been deeply involved with...

Updated Oct. 10, 2008; see final three paragraphs

New York City is in a crisis. But its mayor and 2/3 of its City Council will have to leave office due to term limits imposed by referendum in the 1990s.

Mayor Bloomberg wants to get rid of term limits, and Ronald Lauder, the billionaire who backed the term limits referenda campaigns, wants them suspended for the 2009 election, due to the financial crisis and its devastating effects on New York City. Bloomberg...

"I just don't see it that there would be any motivation in such that people would be trying to evade Freedom of Information responsibilities."

--Thomas Mooney, attorney for firm that represents numerous school districts and municipalities in Connecticut, regarding a recent growth in the filing of freedom of information complaints (from an article in the Stamford Advocate)

Maybe it's...

When does an interest become an interest? When an official starts thinking about entering into a contract? When she starts negotiating the contract? When she agrees on the details? When she actually signs the contract? Or is this not really the question to focus on?

According to an article in the Aspen (CO) Daily News, this...

Sometimes a conflict of interest can help a community save money. An official with a relationship to a company might be able to negotiate a better deal for his town, as long as his company gets the business and the credit. But is this legitimate, and even if it is, how should it be handled?

Sometimes it's very difficult for a government official to deal with a conflict of interest involving a member of his or her immediate family. The common approach to ethics is to assume that an official will favor a family member, but sometimes an ethics law can take an official out of the uncomfortable position of having to reject a family member. And sometimes the situation with a family member can have elements of both.

In...