IEC Journal

Holiday Issues

It's that time of year again! Holiday ethics issues are on us. DOD SOCO has a fact sheet on Partying With Contractors and Supervisors. There is also a good Army memo entitled Happy Holidays and Good Judgment.

Why reinvent the wheel? We welcome your suggestions as to other resources.

Updates: Dec. 3: Typo correction. Dec. 5: Updated URL for party paper to 2006 version.

Army SOCO Web Site

We have updated our link to the OTJJAG [Army] Ethics Website. This site has a number of interesting resources that could be adapted for use by other agencies, including a PowerPoint slide show for training and Mark Stone's information paper on government employees writing letters of recommendation. The Ethics Counselor's Deskbook meets the usual high standard for products of the Army's Judge Advocate General's School in Charlottesville.

Please notify us if you are aware of other agency ethics web sites with valuable information.

Pro Bono and Government Lawyers

Do the Standards of Conduct prohibit government lawyers from engaging in pro bono activities? Not by a long shot. Here are the Department of Justice and U.S. Postal Service policies.

The Pro Bono section of the ABA's Government and Public Lawyers web site has many resources, including other sample policies and articles.

A possible topic for the next OGE conference?

Ethics Resources from the Air Force Materiel Command

Mark Stone and Walter Pupko of the Air Force Materiel Command continue to share useful information with the broader ethics community. In just the last few weeks, Mark's "AFMC Ethics Update" e-mails have included the following topics:

• Serving on the Board of a Non-Federal Organization
• Sources of Guidance on the OGE Optional Form 450-A
• Format for Opinion on DOD Personnel Publicly Supporting Changes to State Law
• Working as an Expert Witness in Private Litigation

To be added to Mark's mailing list, send an e-mail to:

mark DOT stone AT wpafb DOT af DOT mil (address disguised to throw off automated spammer software; reformat to use).

The Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) ethics website, designed and maintained by Walter, has additional useful information. Users get access only after being validated, a relatively easy procedure.

Encyclopedia of Ethical Failure Update

The Department of Defense Standards of Conduct Office has updated its Encyclopedia of Ethical Failure. As aptly described at the DoD SOCO web site:

It is an excellent resource document for training and briefing of personnel. The ability to cite real situations and their disciplinary resolution is an excellent tool to make a point for even those employees that think it unnecessary and enjoy voicing their negative sentiment about the need for training.

An updates only version is available.

Responding to Reader Feedback

Here are responses to several reader comments:

A. High Praise Indeed

A Sunlight Foundation project, Realtime Investigations, referred to IEC Journal as "the invaluable blog devoted to developments in federal government ethics." Thanks!

B. Another Satisfied Customer

Another reader told us via e-mail: "You guys do such a great job, and always have such interesting items posted. I check the IEC website at least a couple of times a week and always learn something. Thanks!"

It's always nice to get compliments, but the best part was that the note included a suggested topic for an IEC Journal entry. We welcome your suggestions on topics, or anything else.

C. RSS Troubleshooting

Another reader asked about setting up an RSS reader. If you are having trouble, the first step is to make sure there's no confusion between the e-mail echo service we are using (RssFwd) and an RSS reader. As explained previously, the e-mail echo service "scrapes" the postings and redistributes them by e-mail. By contrast, an RSS reader is a separate, stand-alone program designed specifically for automatic collecting of RSS feeds from web site and formatting them for convenient reading. More explanation of RSS readers is available.

If your problem is with an RSS reader, the next troubleshooting step is to try using it with the RSS feed from some other web site. If it still won't work, the problem is probably with the newsreader software you have selected. Check the instructions or ask a tech-savvy friend for help. If you still can't figure it out, contact us and we will try to help. Tell us which software you are using, as there are hundreds of different newsreaders available.

Updated Nov. 26 for improved clarity.

IG Bill Advances

Thanks to John Szabo for the alert to a Government Executive article about the IG bill. It has passed the House and now has been reported out by the Senate Committee.

Course on Ethics in the Grant Environment

A company named Management Concepts is holding a series of courses on ethics issues for federal agency employees who work on grants. One class will be held on Dec. 5 in Washington, D.C. The company's web site has a list of other cities and other dates. Here are the course objectives:

Students will: Review legislative actions and judicial decisions that affect the standards of ethical conduct for executive branch employees · Determine whether actions of federal personnel comply with the regulations at 5 CFR 2635 · Review and discuss agency appeals board cases dealing with ethical issues such as unlawful representation by employees after retirement and payments to federal employees by recipients · Discuss restrictions on requirements that agencies can impose on recipients · Explore methods for ensuring fairness in the grant review and award process · Analyze agency activities to determine whether they violate restrictions on lobbying.

Error Message on Subscription?

A couple of people have reported receiving an error message ("cannot find server") when trying to subscribe to the IEC Journal e-mail echo by clicking on the link to RssFwd. I have not been able to replicate this error message, trying most recently this morning. However, the server has sometimes responded very slowly, so I suspect the error is transient. Try again at a different time and contact us if you continue to have problems with this free service.

Update: Edited 11/20 to improve clarity.

Training on Certifying Confidential Financial Disclosure Reports

OGE will hold training on December 4, 5, 11 and 12 on the subject of Certifying Confidential Financial Disclosure Reports (OGE 450).  The course objectives are:

• Increase your knowledge and skills in reviewing reports
• Learn how the conflict of interest laws and standards of conduct relate to your review of each
  part of the OGE 450 report
• Learn the most common errors employees make in completing the report and how to resolve them