In the news

According to an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer, a county commissioner in Ohio voted on a contract that went to her non-dependent son, and she is being investigated by the Ohio Ethics Commission.

Let me say first that I think it's outrageous for a public official to vote on a contract that's going to her son, dependent or not. The county commissioner says she...

My state, Connecticut, has just added itself to the at least 14 states that provide for public official pension forfeiture. Like some of the other states, its new law covers municipal officials.

Pension forfeiture is the capital punishment of government ethics.  It makes legislators look like they care about ethics, and it makes people feel that justice has been done. And with all these "good" emotions sparking supportive editorials, few think about the arguments pro and con, or...

Who should be on a local government pension board? Should conflicts of interest be taken into account? These two questions are closely interrelated, because the common answer seems to be that those with the greatest conflict are also the most appropriate members.

There are two values at odds here:  letting employees and retirees manage their own pensions, and the public interest in having tax dollars handled by disinterested and competent individuals.

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The standard of proof for determining whether an ethical violation occurred has become an issue in Louisiana's ethics reform. After looking at several local government ethics codes, as well as the ethics codes of the states that have jurisdiction over local government officials, I don't think standards of proof have become enough of an issue in most jurisdictions.

According to...

The decision of the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal in In re Arnold (May 23, 2008) causes serious problems with respect to ethics enforcement against local government legislators, at least in Louisiana. It opens up a can of worms that I haven't seen discussed (I'd appreciate being alerted to where it has been discussed).

The court decided that the Legislative...

The Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One doesn't like having to get approval from the federal government for changes in its voting policy, in order to prevent racial discrimination; it says that everything's fine and dandy in Northwest Austin. The requirement can be found in Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, extended in 2006.

NAMUDNO, which apparently doesn't think the Voting Rights Act should have been extended, because racial discrimination is a thing of the...