Conflicts Policy

I often meet with Espresso Pundit readers who ask me what I do for a living.  I consider this a great compliment.  They know I’m a lawyer and CPA, and that I do some lobbying, but they don’t know much else.  That’s because I don’t blog about activities in which I’m directly involved.  Most of my legal practice involves conducting rate cases in front of the Arizona Corporation Commission. I also lobby for the Foundation for Blind Children,  serve on the Governing Board of the Maricopa County Hospital and work with Mayor Lane on Economic Development issues that affect Scottsdale.

That’s why you don’t read many Espresso Pundit posts about the Corporation Commission, health care, the Foundation for Blind Children or Scottsdale. When I started working on Scottsdale economic development issues,  I stopped covering the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce, and when I was elected to the Board of the County Hospital, I stopped covering the County Hospital.   Sure, there are occasional high level posts—speculation about who is running for Congress, or the legality of Prop 204—but I don’t use Espresso Pundit to advance causes for clients or to push issues in which I’m personally involved.

I’m also careful to not to write stories about the people with whom I work.  So you won’t see any stories about the other members of the  Board of MIHS.  You haven’t seen any stories about the current travails of the Hospital Association; you don’t see any posts about folks who work for Scottsdale, or coverage of the Scottsdale City Council.

If you do occasionally see a story on one of those topics, you will know who my clients are and be able to judge accordingly.  I think that you will find very few times in which my work world and my blog world overlap.