REDUCING CORRUPTION IN CITY GOVERNMENT A THINK

Corruption in city government may appear to be more pervasive than that in other levels of government because city government is closer to the citizenry than are most other levels of government. Corruption in city government may actually be more pervasive than in other levels of government because more opportunities for corrupt acts are available to a greater proportion of public employees in city government than in other levels of government.

The Extent and Character of Corruption American City Government

The extent and character of corruption in city government in the United States may be illustrated through a consideration of the corruption which existed in New York City government during the tenure as mayor of Ed Koch. Political corruption in New York City government is popularly conceived as an almost continuous phenomenon since the days of "Boss" Tweed in the mid1800s.1 Corruption certainly occurred during the mayoral reign of Ed Koch, who, somewhat ironically, entered office as a reformer.2 During the reign of Mayor Koch, Quee

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come almost institutionalized. It was uncovered by the New York City Department of Investigation, following reports issued by a group newly installed food service inspectors. These newly appointed food service inspectors had not been assigned to teams including any of the socalled old guard inspectors, and, when their reports of deficiencies were ignored, went over the heads of their supervisors, to make the facts known to senior departmental administrators. Bribery had become a way of life for food service inspectors in New York City. It was common practice for restaurant operators to offer, and for inspectors to accept money to overlook the grossest and most dangerous (to consumer health) violations. Within the inspection division, the senior administrator's attempted to cast guilt on the new inspectors who refused to be bribed, and issued shutdown notices. About half of the new inspectors quit in disgust after approximately one year on the job. The others persisted; however, and the scandal eventually became public knowledge. The openness of corruption during the Koch era did not equal that of the "Boss" Tweed period. The scope of the corruption during the Koch era did not even approach that in Mayor Jimmy Walker's t
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Department Investigation, Government Politics, York City, , Department Health, Tweed's United, Nevertheless Koch, Ed Koch, Friedman Koch, Culpa Republic, york city, city government, political corruption, city department, corruption city, york city department, ed koch, corruption city government, food service inspectors, service inspectors, food service, levels government, republic 8 1989, october 1988, culpa republic 8,
Approximate Word count = 2143
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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