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Ethics Commission Meeting Minutes Wednesday, August 12, 2015 Page 7 1 Discussion ensued related to record keeping in public meetings; strict data practices for 2 municipalities and Open Meeting Law for e-mails, documents and public records for ar- 3 chive, correspondence, and other documents part of the public record which are extensive 4 and not negatively onerous, but taking considerable back-up and communication efforts 5 by ciry staff; and the need for the Ethics Commission to be cognizant of how to email the 6 entire board, as well as for public awareness, of the procedure and practice to get the in- 7 formation to the City Manager for dissemination versus to and/or among individual 8 commissioners to avoid communication issues and any perceived Open Meeting Law 9 concerns. 10 11 City Manager Trudgeon noted interesting comments in the article related to recommend- 12 ing or endorsing others on social media, with the City of Roseville's Ethics Code specifi- 13 cally addressing that something couldn't be promoted or endorsed, and the need for cau- 14 tion beyond just print advertising, but also "liking" something on social media that may 15 be perceived as endorsing or recommending it, especially given the speed at which social 16 media moves. Mr. Trudgeon also referenced the use or perceived use of government of- 17 £icial titles or sanctions and need to differentiate between personal comments and official 18 employment or positions that may sanction or endorse something. As an example, Mr. 19 Trudgeon noted on his personal Facebook page, he didn't even mention where he worked 20 to avoid any perception of impropriety. 21 22 23 24 25 26 V. 27 28 29 30 Concluding discussion included individual commissioners sharing their personal experi- ences and examples of clarifying if and when speaking as a private person versus repre- senting an organization or employer. Discussion of 2016 Ethics Training As noted at the previous meeting, City Manager Trudgeon noted past Ethics training and sought input from the Commission on whether or not to change approaches beyond a re- view of the Ethics Code, to keep the annual training interesting and thought-provoking. 31 Discussion of and suggestion for possible areas of interest to include in the training social 32 media and email in today's 24/7/365 day media worldview; the value in the presentation 33 by the City Attorney and various scenarios to initiate discussion; value of additional local 34 presenters to keep things new; reinforcement of the Ethics Code and Open Meeting Law 35 provisions in light of new commissioners coming on board annually; a review of previous 36 speakers; and broader discussion of ethical behavior and transparency from a broader 37 perspective and how to avoid giving an appearance of or avoiding doillg so. 38 39 Further discussion included the differentiation between the function of the Ethics Com- 40 mission and government ethics versus that de�'ined in the dictionary; and criminal versus 41 ethical issues both taking a different path; and ideas or examples to give for positive ways 42 as part of that training in which compliinents or celebrating the successful way a situation 43 was handled could be highlighted and emphasized more. 44