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<br />~~~~~-~ <br />Jl-5D (0 {P \\ t- <br />ry ~ KtJD <br /> <br />Roseville Needs an Ethics Advisory Commission <br /> <br />Mayor and Council Members, <br /> <br />Several years ago a previous council formed a task force to consider revision of City <br />Resolution Number 8593 "Code of Ethics for Public Officials in the City of Roseville". <br />At that time there was an ethics commission in Roseville as described in resolution 8593. <br />Dr. David Schultz of Hamline University participated in the code of ethics task force as a <br />knowledgeable individual on ethical behavior for public officials. A copy of the draft <br />report (dated 23 April 2002) from the task force is available from Dr. Schultz. <br />Alternatively, the draft report may be available from city staff. The report was not <br />presented to the council in 2002 because the task force and the ethics commission were <br />disbanded suddenly just before the scheduled date for presentation. <br /> <br />I request that one the next two city council meetings include a presentation of the draft <br />report by Dr. Schultz. I also request the formation of an ethics commission consistent <br />with the recommendation of the 2002 task force as part of the currently planned <br />solicitation for applicants to fill vacancies on the other advisory commissions during the <br />next several months. <br /> <br />The need for an ethics commission is contentious. It has been suggested (in all <br />seriousness) that there is no need for an ethics commission because there are no ethical <br />lapses in the conduct of public officials in Roseville. I believe that even the most <br />outstanding public official in Roseville is capable of an ethical "slip" that might be <br />worthy of comment by an ethics commission. A complete discussion of the value and <br />responsibilities of an ethics commission could take hours, days, or weeks. Instead, I <br />suggest that you form an ethics commission, challenge the commissioners to meet the <br />responsibilities recommended by the draft report from the 2003 Task Force, and review <br />the result on an annual basis. <br /> <br />Respectfull y , <br /> <br />Douglas Root <br />2468 North Hamline A venue <br /> <br />30Jan2006 <br />