Full Description
Corruption is a chronic public concern affecting America's cities. Greed, ethical lapses and lack of accountability have drained untold millions in tax dollars.
Corrupt practices range from embezzlement, graft, bribery, kickbacks, extortion, nepotism and patronage to the misuse of funds, vehicles, equipment, supplies and other public resources. Court proceedings to investigate and prosecute perpetrators add to the cost.
Media exposes have magnified the spectacle of abusive and unethical government. This book investigates the reasons behind corruption and imparts guidelines for better accountability.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Part I: The State of Corruption
1. The Town That Can't Seem to Govern Itself (Daniel C. Vock)
2. Drained (Josh Goodman)
3. Dilemmas Faced When Contracting Out Public Services (Andrea Headley)
4. Chicago and Illinois, Leading the Pack in Corruption (Dick Simpson et al.)
5. The Dark Side of Awards and Accountability (Ken Miller)
6. Public Corruption: An Ethical Challenge (Dulce Pamela Baizas)
7. Corruption—An Enlightened Self-Interest? (Ravi Subramanian)
8. When Does Politicians' Unethical Behavior Become a Crime? (Alan Ehrenhalt)
9. Managing Public Mistrust of Government (Brynne VanHettinga)
10. Coffee and Doughnuts: Building Accountability (John J. Carroll)
11. Can Police Departments Reduce Implicit Bias? (Paul Figueroa)
Part II: Practices and Possibilities
A. Classic
12. Cuyahoga County's Road to Recovery from Corruption delete(Josh Goodman)
13. How Public Professionals Stay Politically Neutral delete(Roger L. Kemp)
14. How Would It Look in the Paper? delete(Bob Stone)
15. Charlotte Mayor Resigns After Arrest on Corruption Charges (Mark Washburn, Jim Morrill and Michael Gordon)
16. The Costs of Public Corruption delete(Patrick Fitzgerald)
17. Whistleblowers Anonymous delete(Tom Arrandale)
18. Regaining the Public's Trust delete(G. Edward DeSeve)
19. New York Corruption Investigation Trends delete(Chelsea A. Binns)
20. Lack of Oversight Led to Ex-Water Agency Head's Conviction delete(Dan Ivers)
21. How We're Losing the War on Corruption delete(Mark Funkhouser)
22. Municipal Employees Retirement System Faces Questions (Kevin Litten)
23. Responding to an Ethical Crisis (Kevin Duggan)
24. Ethics: Focus on the Fundamentals (Martha Perego)
25. Ethics, Front and Center (Troy Brown)
B. Contemporary
26. Local Government Ethics Reform (Robert Wechsler)
27. Assessing the Ethical Culture of Your Agency (JoAnne Speers, Jan Perkins and Arne Croce)
28. Building a Strong Local Government Ethics Program (Michael W. Manske and H. George Frederickson)
29. Ethics: Alive and Well delete(Elizabeth Kellar and Jan Perkins)
30. Ethics in Public Management Education delete(Alicia Schatteman
31. Key Elements to Building Transparent Communities International City/County Management Association
32. A Dose of Transparency (Penelope Lemov)
33. Introducing the Cycle of Transparency (Paul Blumenthal)
34. Council-Manager or Strong Mayor? International City/County (Management Association and California City Management Foundation)
35. A Cost-Effective Way to Bust (and Prevent) Contractor Fraud (Jim Sullivan)
36. City-State Oversight of Funds Given to Nonprofits Lacking (Zach Patton)
37. Vigilance Required for New York Government Employees (Chelsea A. Binns)
38. Lessons of Bell, California (Michael McGrath)
39. Where Our Profession Is Making a Difference (Kevin Duggan)
40. Prudent Options for Balancing Public Budgets (Roger L. Kemp)
41. The Seven Deadly Sins of Public Finance (Liz Farmer)
42. Body-Worn Cameras: Using the Wealth of Data Effectively (Paul Figueroa)
43. Report Grades Cities' Spending Transparency Websites (Mike Maciag)
44. Using Technology to Increase Access and Transparency (Brian A. Moura)
45. Unlike Zoos, Public Health Departments Don't Need National Accreditation delete(Mattie Quinn)
Part III: Caveats and the Future
46. Speak Out, Do the Right Thing and You're Fired! (Brynne VanHettinga)
47. Dealing with Public Mistrust delete(Dana K. Lee)
48. When Transparency Fails to Produce Accountability delete(Pospere Charles)
49. When Transparency Becomes the Enemy of Accountability (Stuart C. Gilman and Howard Whitton)
50. How to Embed Transparency into Collaborative Governance (Jusil Lee and Erik W. Johnston)
51. Corruption, Ethics and Accountability (Rod Erakovich et al.)
52. Anti-Corruption Effort Targets All the States (Neal Peirce)
53. States Disclose Economic Development Subsidies (Mike Maciag)
54. Why It Might Finally Get Easier to Access Public Data (Liz Farmer)
55. The Truth about Public Employees in California (Sylvia A. Allegretto and Jeffrey Keefe)
56. Disclosing Public Employee Pay Troubles Some Officials (Mike Maciag)
Appendices
I. Professional Code of Ethics (Government Finance Officers Association)
II. Code of Ethics with Guidelines delete(International City/County Management Association)
III. Proposed Code of Ethics for Municipal Officials (State of Connecticut)
IV. Transparency in Government Procurement (National Institute of Governmental Purchasing)
V. Glossary of Anti-Corruption Practices (Joaquin Jay Gonzalez III)
About the Editors and Contributors
Index
