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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 Ethics Commission Meeting Minutes Wednesday, August 12, 2015 Page 6 Chair Lehinan thanked speakers for their attendance and public comments, and noted that the Commission would take it under advisement and consult with the Ciry Council moving forward at their next joint meeting. III. Approve Minutes of May 13, 2015 Commissioner Anderson moved to approve the May 13, 2015 minutes, seconded by Cormnissioner Becker. Ayes All: Motion passed IV. Group Discussion: Ethics readings Chair Lehman referenced various readings and articles of interest brought forward by in- dividual commissioners for group discussion, and forwarded to City Manager Trudgeon. Commissioners discussed the various articles and their interpretation of potential, appar- ent, perceived, or obvious conflicts of interest based on those readings. Discussion included conflicts with employment, advocacy and lobbying efforts; private and public differentials and positions specific to regulating businesses or industries; iln- portance of public perception when serving as a public official no matter the intent; and valid concerns of the public in those perceptions and higher and broader transparency needed in most instances. Further discussion included part-time status for most state legislators versus a more full- time status for legislators at the nationallevel; those areas that should be common sense or obvious not always being observed; sequences of situations often affecting the percep- tion; and the challenges of social media and email with government ethics based on per- sonal versus private (e.g. former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton); and the extra caution needed in clarifying whether social media postings are personal or based on your posi- tion; and whether or not they should be posted at a11 depending on their nature, content, and/or intent. Additional discussion ensued related to social media best policies or ethical policies ver- sus First Amendment rights specific to serving as a government official; the need to keep some things private with day-to-day operations and avoid blurring that line. During discussion of the value expressed by individual commissioners in NextDoor.com, and whether or not the city had a policy on how they handled posting to it, City Manager Trudgeon clarified that this was run by a private firm, not the city, and the City held the position to use it sparingly only for sporadic posting of events or inforination to avoid usurping neighborhood communications. City Manager Trudgeon noted that often the city became aware of a topic or issue after-the-fact when a resident sought a response and the City wasn't aware of the issue beforehand. Comments by individual commissioners included the apparent low-key, helpful nature of NextDoor.com and accountability of it.