by Scott E. Huber on September 11, 2016
posted in
Ethics,
The California Attorney General issued an opinion related to the rights of Joint Powers Authority (JPA) voting members which likely affects all JPAs throughout California. The question arose where a member of the board of directors was required to recuse himself from voting on an issue because of a conflict of interest.
The subject of this particular opinion was the Metropolitan Water District (MWD), which is comprised of 26 individual agencies or municipalities. Some of these member agencies are allotted more than one seat on the board of directors. Those agencies, for example the City of Los ... Continue Reading
tags:
Attorney General, conflicts of interest, joint powers authorities, voting members,
by Derek P. Cole on June 16, 2015
posted in
Ethics,
Consultants are fixtures in the world of local government. Engineers, architects, lawyers, and many other professionals routinely contract with local agencies to provide a wide range of services. A recent court opinion, Davis v. Fresno Unified School District, warns the companies that employ these professionals of their potential for conflicts of interest.
... Continue Reading
tags:
conflicts of interest, Public Contracting, Section 1090,
by Derek P. Cole on February 23, 2015
posted in
Administrative Regulations, Ethics,
The Fair Political Practices Commission (“FPPC”) has recently adopted a new regulation governing when public officials have conflicts of interests in businesses they own or for which they are investors. The amended regulation, which became effect in January 2015, is part of a broader FPPC program to streamline and simplify the regulations that implement the Political Reform Act of 1974, California’s principal law governing the ethics of public officials. The recent amendment concerning business-based conflicts follows changes the FPPC made in 2014 to the regulation governing conflicts for ... Continue Reading
tags:
Business Interests, conflicts of interest, Regulations,
by William R. Galstan on January 27, 2015
posted in
Ethics, Zoning,
The Fair Political Practices Commission (“FPPC”) has adopted new rules to determine whether a public official has a conflict of interest when his or her real property interest is located near to a land use application.
Under the old rules, if any part of an official’s real property (or interest in real property with a fair market value of $2,000.00 or more) was located within 500 feet of the property lines of a land use application, the official was considered to have a conflict of interest because it was assumed that there would be a material financial effect (whether positive or negative) ... Continue Reading
tags:
conflicts of interest, FPPC, Land Use Applications,
by Derek P. Cole on December 2, 2014
posted in
Ethics,
The question is one that small local agencies often face. What happens when the agency needs to purchase goods or services from a company that is at least partially owned by one of its elected officials? A very recent Attorney General opinion answers this question clearly: find somewhere else to get the goods or services.
... Continue Reading
tags:
1090, Attorney General opinion, Cannella, conflicts of interest, Political Reform Act,
