I think most Californians would be glad to learn that their public officials are required to take a refresher course on ethics every two years. AB 1234 created the requirement and was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2005 – so most jurisdictions are now going through their second cycle of training.

The course covers key ethics laws, ethical dilemmas faced by public servants, open meetings, public records and transparency in government decision-making. And it’s not just the elected officials that are required to complete this “public service 101” – all key staffers and appointed officials must have a current certificate too.

The course I took today was presented by JoAnne Spears who is the Executive Director of the Institute for Local Government. The ILG website page re AB 1234 is here. The course uses video news reports to illustrate examples of less than stellar decision-making on the part of local government officials and encourages discussion about the ethical and legal issues involved.

Those public officials too busy to sit through the course can take an online course like the one found at the Fair Political Practices Commission website – here. If you’re curious give it a try and see how you do.

The bottom line? Additional ethics training for public officials is a good thing. The bad apples almost always get caught and make big headlines and the evening news. The rest you rarely hear about because they’re doing the right thing.

I had to chuckle this morning when I read in the New York Times that even newspaper executives think that newspapers ignore good news stories.

The article – More Readers Trading Newspapers for Web Sites – explains about continued loss of print circulation and a new, independent measurement of online readership.  The combined information is "good news."

Industry executives said they hoped the new numbers would put a more positive cast on newspapers’ prospects than the routinely gloomy paid circulation reports have done.

“We do feel that there’s a story that’s been missed here,” said Stephen P. Hills, president and general manager of The Washington Post. There is good news about readership, he said, “but you wouldn’t know that to read the newspapers.”

Bing!

Lawrence Lessig, the Stanford professor who invented the Creative Commons system and has written numerous books about intellectual property rights over the past 10 years, announced via his blog that he is shifting his academic focus to the topic of "corruption".  His explanation is worth reading and the line that rang clear as a bell for me was this:

"That our government can’t understand basic facts when strong interests have an interest in its misunderstanding."

I have strong concerns about the lack of civic engagement, the civility of political and public discussions and the consistent decline in the amount of coverage local government receives from the media.  In my view they are inter-related and a dangerous trend.  Perhaps Professor Lessig will show us ways to fight corruption and promote civic renewal.  Stay tuned.

Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Weintraub – who also writes the Capitol Insider blog – has started a new public policy oriented weblog called Crossroads.

"Welcome to Crossroads, a new place at SacBee.com where people with different views on the issues of the day come to discuss, debate and explore new ways of thinking. "

The first policy topic being discussed is healthcare and among the "regular" contributors listed on the right sidebar is former Contra Costa County Supervisor Donna Gerber – since 2003 she’s the Governmental Relations Director for the California Nurses Association.  Should be worth reading.