Sentencing of former Bell, CA, city manager underscores importance of ethics and transparency.

Ask or direct a staff member to do something unethical, and you place the person in an untenable position of great risk.

Public service is a privilege. And as with life’s privileges, it comes with a unique set of responsibilities and obligations.

It is fairly easy to understand that a leader is held to a high standard for his or her personal and professional conduct.

Pat Martel and Scott Hancock conducted interviews with radio and TV stations to raise awareness of professional local government management, ICMA’s 100th Anniversary, and Life, Well Run.

The time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is full of holiday cheer, and often that cheer involves gift giving! Gifts are great, but they can be a complicated issue for local government officials. Now is the perfect time to review your local government’s specific policies regarding gifts and gift giving so that when you start receiving presents as thank-yous for everything your city has accomplished over the past year, you will know exactly what to do. You can remind all staff about the gifts policy by posting your local government’s guidelines in a place where everyone will see them.