The city of Spokane has undertaken the task of devising an ethics code and establishing an enforcement mechanism. Yes, the pace is glacial, but at least the city is doing something.

Spokane County, Kootenai County, Spokane Valley, Coeur d’Alene, and possibly others, ought to follow suit. Residents of those governments deserve the same guarantees that officials are conducting their business with professionalism and integrity.

The city of Spokane is not alone in providing examples of conduct that could have been candidates for review by independent and impartial ethics committees.

The latest case in Spokane County involves the efforts by then-District Court Judge Mike Padden to steer the county’s collection-agency business to a former employer, despite that agency’s considerably higher bid.

Other examples are the hiring of sons of a then-county commissioner. The risk manager who was funneling most auto body work to one business after a botched road repaving job. The county commissioner who wanted to move precincts around so he could buy a house in a different part of the county and keep his position. The county taking money from Kaiser to set up a video surveillance near a picketing site.

Kootenai County has had its share of questionable acts, with the latest example being the e-mail controversy involving the prosecutor and the then-director of the Drug Court.

We mention these cases not to pass judgment on them, but to show that ethics processes could have been useful.

The very existence of such oversight might have prevented acts that were clearly unethical or even borderline unethical.

Would Padden have proceeded if he had known he’d have to defend those actions in front of an ethics committee? Would Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas have hit the send button on those e-mails?

Codes of ethics help governments navigate those gray areas where conduct isn’t illegal but is still wrong. The coverage of ethics in human resources policies and employment contracts is often hit and miss. Clear, thoughtful codes focus attention on actions, not personalities. They remove the recurring excuse that the accused’s reputation is beyond reproach.

One way to ensure that cities and counties adopt ethics codes is for state legislatures to make them mandatory. The Tennessee Legislature did that last year after an FBI and state law enforcement sting netted five current and former lawmakers on corruption and bribery charges.

It would be nice if governments took that step themselves. Few doubt that Spokane needed a code of ethics. But if it makes sense for Spokane, it makes sense for others, too.