HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Ethics Commission - 06/09/2005 Page 1 of 2
MINUTES OF THE ETHICS COMMISSION
City of Corpus Christi, Texas M SEp
5:30 p.m., June 9 2005 Ft,c ?005 j ,
ACM Conference Room — 5th Floor CoSu
City Hall — 1201 Leopard ce.4 04•74l'g
\Neervio
The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Fred Haley at 5:40 p.m.
The members present were: Terry Carter, Robert Corrigan, Linda Figueroa, Harlan
Heitkamp and Rick Marcantonio.
City Attorney Mary Kay Fischer was present.
Members absent were: James Cramer, Joe Guzman and Derrick Reaves.
Linda Figueroa, the newly,appointed Commission member introduced herself.
The Commission unanimously approved the minutes of the May 12, 2005 meeting.
Chairperson Haley discussed meeting dates and times and noted that historically, the
Commission had scheduled to meet every month, but that due to lack of quorums, the
meeting schedule had been revised to every other month. He thought that with a full
board with new members, the Commission may wish to meet every month, so that the
public would have access to the Commission when they had a complaint.
Rick Marcantonio asked how often does the public attend.
Ms. Fischer stated that since she has been working with the Commission, (December,
2003) there has been one instance in which a member of the public attended the
meeting. There was no particular complaint or reason for their attendance.
Chairperson Haley further noted that there were very limited times during his tenure
when the public attend the Commission meetings.
Discussion evolved around the theme that meetings should be conducted on an as-
needed basis, including those times in which reports are to be reviewed and the
September annual meeting.
A motion was made that the City Attorney shall advise Ethics Commission members at
least 30 days in advance whether there is a need for a meeting to be called. The
motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
Commission members discussed the desire to amend Ordinance Section 2-342 to
include more specific information to be requested regarding financial information.
•
SCANNED
• Page 2 of 2
City Attorney Fischer advised that the procedure she would follow was to consult with
• Texas Ethics Commission legal counsel and research the legality of requiring the
information that the Commission desired to be included in the Ordinance.
City Attorney Fischer suggested that each Commission member email her the
recommended amendments to Section 2-342 and she would then prepare a draft
ordinance containingandhighlighting the proposed amendments submitted by the
Commission members. She would then email draft to members to discuss at their next
meeting. The Commission agreed with this suggested process.
The Commission wanted to further discuss the intent of Section 2-311(9) of the Code of
Ordinances. City Attorney Fischer explained that she opined that the intent of this
section related to the State Bar's Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct in
order to prevent a conflict of interest violation. It could be interpreted that since the
board member is an appointed member by the City, the City is their client and it would
be considered a conflict of interest for the board member to also represent an opposing
party to the City.
The Commission then discussed the Sister City Exchange Program opinion issued on
March 18, 1991. This opinion discussed Ethics Code sections 2-311 (1), (2), (7) and
(18), as well as the definition of"substantial interest" as set out in 2-312.
Mr. Heitkamp noted that there was no conflict of interest since the member of the Sister
City Steering Committee would not serve on the student selection subcommittee and
therefore, she would not violate the ordinance. It was further noted that since the entire
committee does not vote on the students selected, there would be no violation of
Sections 1 or 2 because the committee member would not be using her position for
private advancement or to secure special privileges, nor would she be voting to grant
special consideration to her child. Section 7 would not apply since this matter would not
come before the committee member in the performance of her official duties.
Additionally, the dollar value of the airfare would not exceed $5,000, so there would not
be a "substantial interest" involved.
There was no public comment made at this meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m.
' 1
red Haley
Chairperson