2013_1113_Ethics Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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DRAFT Meeting Minutes Ethics Commission August 14, 2013 Acting Chair Lehman indicated that he and Fj elstad were on a subcommittee to review the Ethics Code and detailed prior meetings with City Attorney Mark Gaughan to review potential language changes. City Attorney Erickson indicated after his review that the language addition didn't present any legal concerns as far as he is aware. Collopy suggested changing the language to read: No Public Official shall use information gained as a Public Official which is not generally made available to and /or is not known to the public, to directly or indirectly gain anything of value, or for the benefit of any other person or entity shall any Public Official make such information available when in a manner MJer -e it would be reasonably foreseeable that a person or entity would benefit from it Attorney Erickson discussed consistency with commas /semi - colons moving forward and the commission agreed to restructure the changes bringing it back to City Attorney Gaughan for his review. The Commission also discussed reviewing the language in Section 3.M and agreed to have the City Attorney review that as well. Collopy moved to have the ethics code subcommittee bring back changes to sections 3.B and IM to the City Attorney. O'Brien seconded. Ayes All. V. Discuss Potential Changes to Ethics Code, Section 5 The Commission discussed Section 5 of the Ethics Code that discusses the process of responding to an ethics complaint. Acting Chair Lehman indicated that draft changes to the language were proposed and reviewed by City Attorney Gaughan who had indicated concerns. The Ethics Commission continued to discuss what changes were desired in the section and agreed that more instruction on how to respond to a complaint was desired. The concerns and limitations by the Commission included, but were not limited to, what data privacy restrictions were present when responding to an ethics complaint, what limitations do the Ethics Commission have when a violation of the ethics code is present, and what is the direction of the Commission when an ethics complaint might involve the City Manager or City Council? Lehman asked for clarification on whether or not the commission can dismiss a complaint if found unsubstantiated. O'Brien asked whether or not the City wanted the Ethics Commission to be a part of the decision making process. O'Brien indicated that these questions have remained unanswered for nine months and wanted some direction on what the next steps were. Collins suggested that the code subcommittee write a formal request for a City Attorney written opinion detailing all of the questions posed this evening.