Broward corruption cop sets up fight with cities over ethics reforms

A set of proposed government ethics reforms won approval Friday from a group of Broward's top ethics experts.Offered by Broward Inspector General John Scott, the slate of reforms could appear on the 2018 ballot. But they're likely to be subject of intense debate between now and then. Scott proposes:•Empowering an ethics commission or ethics czar to interpret the Broward Code of Ethics that applies to elected officials, city and county employees and local government vendors across Broward. Currently, the code is interpreted by city and county attorneys. •Banning cities from making any changes to the ethics code. Currently, cities can opt out of elements of the ethics code by changing the city charter. A handful of cities have done so. The ideas were embraced Friday at the fifth annual performance evaluation of Broward's first and only inspector general.