Late last Friday afternoon, the mayor announced new proposed ethics rules for Seattle boards and commissions. The new legislation would require board and commission members to recuse themselves from participating in issues where “potential financial conflicts exist.” In his news release, Mayor Nickels quoted Bill Block, a member of the Seattle Center Advisory Commission and a member of the mayor’s ethical advisory committee. Nickels’s choice of Block as his ethical poster boy was somewhat surprising, since Block owns a portion of the Seattle Sonics, who are currently lobbying the mayor and City Council for a $220 million financial subsidy for Seattle Center’s KeyArena.