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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,November 19, 2012 Page 27 Councilmember McGehee questioned if there would be any problem if the City Council simply accepted the complainant's withdrawal. City Attorney Gaughan advised that this was the City's Ethics Code, and not governed by state law. City Attorney Gaughan advised that the current Code framework did not provide those answers; but suggested that the City Council address the complaint as recommended in the RCA, rather than simply leaving the issue open, whether or not the complainant chose to withdraw the complaint or not. City Attorney Gaughan advised that, once the City received a complaint, it behooved them to address it expeditiously rather than subjecting the City to the preferred time frame of the complainant. City Attorney Gaughan questioned whether or not this would hypothetically dissuade a complainant from filing a complaint seeking to realize their preferred outcome or response through with- drawal and repeated re-filing. City Attorney Gaughan reiterated his recommen- dation to the City Council that they address the complaint as received and as recommended by the Ethics Commission based on the City Attorney's written review and finding. Mayor Roe concurred, noting that there was nothing in the City's Ethics Code preventing re-filing of a complaint even if and when it was addressed by the City Council. City Attorney Gaughan concurred, noting that at the last Ethics Commission meeting, given the newness of this code for the City, they had determined that it was within their purview to adopt amendments or alterations to the existing code. If a scenario developed that a complainant filed over and over again, City Attorney Gaughan advised that he would then encourage the City to amend their code to put a mechanism in place to end that practice. City Manager Malinen advised that the Ethics Commission had already created a Subcommittee to work with staff to review some of those areas. City Manager Malinen advised that the good news was that this was the first time during his tenure and re-creation of the Ethics Commission that they had received a formal complaint; with subsequent areas found through the process that needed to be strengthened. As part of the process, City Manager Malinen noted that the complainant had advised the Ethics Commission of their intent to withdraw the complaint in order to re-file it. McGehee moved, Johnson seconded, received the City Attorney's report and adopt the Ethics Commission recommendation to accept the report and dismis- sal of a recent Ethics Complaint; and to further direct Ethics Commission to undertake a review of current Ethics Codes now in place and provide their recommendation for any alterations based on practical application of this first process.