Everyday Ethics Columns

Analyzing Public Service Dilemmas

The Institute’s ethics program analyzed different ethical dilemmas public officials are likely to face.

Some of the dilemmas have legal dimensions, some have ethical dimensions and many are a combination of both. The column appeared in Western City magazine, the monthly publication of one of the Institute’s parent organizations, the League of California Cities.

Everyday Ethics Article Archive

The Ethics of Council-Staff Teamwork

This article discusses how agency decisions are made and how a governing body interrelates with agency staff.

The Ethics of Council-Staff Teamwork

Leading by Values: When Your Decision Will Affect a Friend or Supporter

This article provides questions to ask yourself as well as legal issues to consider when faced with making a decision that can impact a friend or supporter.

Leading by Values: When Your Decision Will Affect a Friend or Supporter

Navagating the Perils of Public Service

What is a conscientious public servant to do if he or she suspects wrongdoing? While it is difficult to give advice for every situation, this article provides an eight-step analytical framework and a number of resources to help local officials achieve the difficult balance between not turning a blind eye to potential wrongdoing while avoiding unjustly accusing someone of it.

Navigating the Perils of Public Service

Raising Funds for Favorite Causes

This article examines the special ethical issues public officials need to be sensitive to when fundraising for worthy causes. Although the focus of the article is charitable fundraising, a number of the principles also apply in political fundraising.

Raising Funds for Favorite Causes

Using Public Office to Promote One’s Business Interests

This article explores the ethical and legal issues that arise when local officials contemplate using their office to promote their economic interests.

Using Public Office to Promote One’s Business Interests

Semper pro Populus

Fiduciary Duties and Public Service

This article analyzes the parallels between public service ethics laws and fiduciary responsibilities.

It also notes specific areas of the law (investing money and overseeing public pension plans), where fiduciary obligations are more express.

Semper pro Populus: Fiduciary Duties and Public Service

Agency Romances: Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

What issues do elected officials face if they find themselves attracted to staff that work within their agencies?

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Balancing Local and Regional Interests When You’re Asked to Serve Both

When elected officials serve on regional governing bodies, they can face perplexing issues as to whose interests they should be advancing. The article…

Being Less Than Forthright About an Agency’s Decision: The “Conditioning-a-Project-to-Death” Example

This article looks at the ethics of appearing to approve a project, but conditioning the approval so heavily that the project is doomed to die.

Deciding When to Step Aside from the Decision-Making Process: Abstentions and Disqualifications

Our governing body is struggling with the issue of abstentions. When must one abstain; when is it up to the individual?

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For Whom the Whistle Blows

This article addresses the sticky situation that arises when a staff member suspects improper activities but can’t get the attention of his or her…

Getting Public Employees Off to a Good Start

The public agency where I work takes ethics very seriously. I am particularly concerned with issues and reports involving legal and ethical missteps…

Making Politically Unpopular Decisions

This article offers a practical strategy on how to a handle the difficult situation when a public official’s sense of the best course of action…

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Money and Public Service: A Possible Blind Spot?

This article examines the intriguing question of why some public servants may fall into the trap of putting self-interests ahead of the public’s…

Promoting Good Governance Within Your Agency

How can my agency determine whether it is engaging in good governance practices and identify areas where improvements can be made? The article at…

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Promoting a Culture of Ethics at Your Agency

This article offers practical suggestions on how to promote ethical decision-making within an agency.

Raising Funds for Favorite Causes

This article examines the special ethical issues public officials need to be sensitive to when fundraising for worthy causes. Although the focus of…

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Telling the Truth When it Hurts

This article addresses the difficult issue of what to do when one is tempted to lie to protect one’s public agency from the application of a seemingly…

The Ethics of Speaking One’s Mind

How far does one’s free speech rights extend when one is a public official and one disagrees with the position the majority has taken? This article (…

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Using Public Resources for Gifts and Charitable Purposes

What issues should an agency consider when giving gifts, making charitable contributions, and engaging in fundraising?

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What Do You Think Promotes Public Service Ethics?

This is a summary of the resources ILG provides to help local officials sift through the ethical and legal issues of public service ethics.

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When Tragedy Strikes: A Leader’s Role, Revisited

The public is demanding answers and information about a recent tragedy in our community, expressing a strong desire that those responsible be held…

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When an Elected Official Skirts the Law and Scandal Looms

This article offers examines the various ethical dimensions of a situation in which one of an agency’s own elected officials is violating the law and…