Lawsuits Claim Richmond Mayor Steered Development Decisions in Violation of Ethics Laws
It shouldn’t be difficult for local officials to address these situations ethically, said John Pelissero, an expert in government affairs with the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.
Public officials also have an ethical duty to avoid even the appearance of conflicts, Pelissero said. “The mayor, or any other public official, may work very hard to ensure that they never violate the law,” Pelissero said. “But the other question is, are they acting in ways to demonstrate that they take that obligation seriously, and they’re not even putting themselves in a position where it appears that they might have a conflict of interest.”
John Pelissero, senior scholar at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, quoted by Richmond Confidential.