A race to claim the high ground

In the wake of the recent federal fraud convictions, city officials are showing renewed interest in ethics legislation of a variety of types. [parallel Inquirer article here.] Not only is Councilman Nutter reintroducing his bill to regulate the awarding of city contracts (with better prospects since the return of invalid Krajewski on his side), but he and others have new measures on a variety of fronts.

Street, for example, sent to Council a proposal that would, for the first time, require lobbyists to register with the city.

Nutter, who has criticized the city’s way of handing out no-bid professional-service contracts, offered a process for awarding professional contracts when the city wants to sell bonds to finance capital projects or refinance old debt.

Nutter also introduced a resolution that would restart his effort, which Council balked at last March, to set new standards for no-bid contracts and campaign contributions from those who get such work.
. . .
In a surprise move, Councilman Darrell Clarke introduced his own bill to regulate the awarding of contracts not subject to competitive bidding. ... The bill, which also calls for a charter change, is far more modest than Nutter’s bill. Clarke ignores campaign-finance issues completely and requires the city’s procurement commissioner to set regulations.
. . .
And Councilman James Kenney introduced a bill regulating the behavior of the members of the mayor’s Gaming Advisory Task Force by preventing them from taking a job or having a financial interest in any gaming facility or gaming company until two years after their service to the task force.

With only a month before the summer recess, this is a lot to sort through. Hard to tell from all this whether there's new energy for reform, or just for the appearance of interest in the issue.

Update: heh, check out this Signe cartoon along the lines of my rumination above...