HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Ethics Commission - 01/21/2016 Minutes of the Ethics Commission Meeting on January 21, 2016
ACM Conference Room-5t" Floor City Hall— 1201 Leopard Street
The meeting was called to order by Chair Dr. Haysam Dawod at 5:30.
1. Roll Call. Present: Chair Dr. Haysam Dawod; Vice-Chair Karon Connelly, Alicia Benavidez,
Ken Bung, Harry Hallows, Drue Jones, Larry White and Rod Wolthoff. Absent: Rick Milby. City
Staff in attendance: Assistant City Attorney Lisa Aguilar.
2. Review and approval of January 2016 Minutes. A motion to approve minutes was made by
Harry Hallows, second by Ken Bung. All in favor; none opposed.
3. Discussion and possible action regarding Financial Report filings, requirements and
procedures under Section 2-340 through 2-347 of the Code of Ethics. The Commission was
provided and discussed options to amend Section 2-326. A motion was made by Drue Jones
second by Rod Wolthoff to recommend proposed amendment to section 2-326(a)(3) to read as
follows "Review all financial disclosure reports which are filed with the City pursuant to this
Article. If the commission identifies a possible conflict of interest from its review of the
financial disclosure report; the Commission shall notify the filing official to request additional
information regarding the possible conflict of interest." All in favor; none opposed.
4. Discussion and possible action regarding hiring independent legal counsel pursuant to Code
of Ethics Section 2-327. The Chair asked to table this item to the next meeting.
5-6. Review "Improving the Ethics Code" powerpoint report by Jon Mureen with discussion and
possible action on amendments to the City Code of Ethics; Discussion and possible action
regarding amendments to the City Code of Ethics Section 2-311 (19) regarding appointments by
City Council.
The Commission discussed the proposed amendment regarding Council participation in
appointment when the person contributed funds to their campaign. Motion made by Larry
White, second by Harry Hallows, to amend Section 2-311 (19) (regarding appointments by City
Council) to add the following as number (5) to prohibit Councilmember participation in
appointment of a person who: "(5) Contributed $2,700 or more to your total campaign
contributions during the previous election." Voting in favor: Alicia Benavidez, Karon Connelly,
Harry Hallows, Larry White, Rod Wolthoff. Voting against: Ken Bung, Drue Jones and Dr.
Dawod. Absent: Rick Milby. Motion passed 5 to 3.
The Commission reviewed the sections of the Mureen report dealing with gifts. Motion made
by Drue Jones to ratify current city code as it relates to gifts (with corrections to numbering);
second by Ken Bung and Karon Connelly. All in favor; none opposed.
7. Discussion of concerns with or requested changes to the City's Code of Ethics. None.
8. Public Comment. There was no public comment.
9. Identification of next Ethics Commission meeting. The next meeting will be February 18. ;
10. Identification of items to be placed on the next meeting's agenda: independent legal
counsel; Mureen report.
11. Adiournment. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 6:50.
The foregoing minutes of the meeting of the Ethics Commission were approved on February 18, 2016, by the
Ethics Commission.
By: ,
Dr. Haysam Dawod, Chairperson