Latest Developments:
The California Attorney General issued an opinion on April 3, 2018, that a city council member who is also an attorney may not advocate on behalf of a client’s interests that are adverse to the city’s interests. Further, a city council member who is also an attorney may not participate in governmental decisions concerning a client’s interests when those interests that are adverse to the city’s interests.
The SF Ethics Commission participated in a joint meeting with SF Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, April 3, 2018. Following a staff presentation at the meeting, the Commission adopted a number of amendments to its proposal to amend the San Francisco Anti-Corruption and Accountability Ordinance. The Board of Supervisors accepted additional amendments and referred those changes back to the Commission. (See the minutes of the joint meeting at pages 16 to 19 of the board’s minutes.)
Oakland Ethics Commission held its regular monthly meeting on Monday, April 2, 2018. The Commission listened to a presentation from Open Oakland, a community nonprofit, which previewed a planned web-based tool to expand campaign finance disclosure covering contributions to candidates and Oakland ballot measures.
In case you missed it:
- New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics’ much anticipated new website moves the commission’s web presence into the 21st Their old, clunky website is gone! In its place is a much more useful and user-friendly resource center.
- The Alabama Senate adopted SR 51 which expresses a policy against sexual harassment. The policy applies to legislators, staff, lobbyists, and others “involved in the work of the legislature.”