The Ombuds Blog: Palo Alto to Consider Ombuds for City Employees

January 22, 2008

Palo Alto to Consider Ombuds for City Employees

The Palo Alto City Auditor has urged the municipality to create a formal ethics policy for its public employees and implement an employee hot line to respond to misconduct. In her response to the audit, Assistant City Manager Emily Harrison said staff has a "number of reservations" about creating a complaint hot line and may consider hiring an ombudsman. (Palo Alto Daily News; Palo Alto Audit Report.)

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Organizational Ombuds

Organizational Ombuds serve as a confidential, independent, neutral and informal dispute resolution resource for a specific entity. They are accessible to a defined population and can advocate for fairness. These unique characteristics distinguish Organizational Ombuds from Classical Ombuds, mediators, arbitrators, and other alternative dispute resolution professionals. The term "Ombuds" is shorthand for "Ombudsman," "Ombudsperson" and "Ombuds Officer," which also are used widely.

Some other variants include:

Austria -- Ombudsstelle

Brazil -- Ouvidor

Croatia -- pravobranitelji

France -- médiateur/defénseur

Germany -- Ombudspersonen

Italy -- difensore

Netherlands -- ombudspersoon

Norway -- ombudet

Poland -- Rzecznik

Portugal -- provedor

Russia -- омбудсмен

Spain -- ombudsman organizacional

Sweden -- studentombud

Switzerland -- ombudsmann

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January 22, 2008

Palo Alto to Consider Ombuds for City Employees

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