Internet Explorer 11 is not supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

The One-Hour Ethics Solution

Stories on patronage hiring at Chicago's City Hall, payola in city contracting decisions, and corruption in the city's Hired Truck program have made news headlines ...

Stories on patronage hiring at Chicago's City Hall, payola in city contracting decisions, and corruption in the city's Hired Truck program have made news headlines throughout the past year.

But finding corruption at Chicago's City Hall is a little like finding a piece of old food under your sofa. You don't like it, and you may even feign shock upon discovering it, but is anyone really surprised it's there?

In any case, Chicago's city council is eyeing a mandatory ethics class for all 37,000 city employees. It sounds like a great idea, and a little ethics training never hurt anyone. But the training is simply an online course that will take a maximum of one hour to complete. What are the chances that's really going to change the ethics culture in the Windy City?

Zach Patton -- Executive Editor. Zach joined GOVERNING as a staff writer in 2004. He received the 2011 Jesse H. Neal Award for Outstanding Journalism
From Our Partners