The bottom line is our public officials need to resolve the patchwork quilt of ethics codes across the state’s cities and towns. Anyone doing business here is entering a morass of varying rules and regulations. But it isn’t fair to ask our small towns to develop cookie-cutter codes that have different meaning in their communities than they do in the larger cities, not to mention the financial burden of implementation.

As with all laws, successful implementation comes from thoughtful conception and fine-tuning.