by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Jurisdiction and procedure are two issues the City’s Ethics Commission will pursue over the next months as it looks at other cities to decide how it wants to modify its code.
The Ethics Commission met Monday at City Hall for its regular monthly meeting and, per the commission’s request, Ethics Officer Carla Miller has scheduled a meeting between it and Robert Meyers, the executive director of the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust since June 1998. The meeting is scheduled for April 20 from 1-5 p.m. at City Hall.
“The Commission’s Legislative Subcommittee wanted to get some perspective from other cities, so I was able to set up a meeting with Mr. Meyers,” said Miller. “He is a wealth of knowledge on ethics legislation and procedure.”
Before being hired to his current post, Meyers taught law, government and ethics at the university level. He also practiced law for two years in Florida, concentrating on administrative law and labor and employment law. He earned his juris doctorate at the University of Miami, a master’s degree in public administration from Florida International University and a bachelor’s from the University of Florida.
The Commission decided to pursue more information on how other cities were handling their ethics code after listening to complaints about the City’s procedures for allowing access to public records.
“During the meeting we found out people were unhappy in how they were treated when asking for access to public records,” said Braxton Gillam, chair of the Legislative Subcommittee and member of the Ethics Commission’s board of directors. “That left us with the question of what do we do now? Do we have any suggestions on how to address these problems or is it out of our scope?”
During the same March 11 Legislative Subcommittee meeting, Cindy Laquidara, chief deputy general counsel for the City’s Office of General Counsel, cautioned the commission about taking on issues “outside of your jurisdiction.”
The Commission plans to gather information, review the City’s Ethics Code, possibly “tighten up” some of the language in the code and find out just where their jurisdiction lies.
In the Jacksonville Ethics Code (Sec. 602.903. Duties and powers.), it explains that:
“(d) The Commission may, upon employee or citizen complaint, or upon its own initiative, seek information and gather facts for the purpose of investigating any circumstance or situation of which the Commission may become aware that appears to violate or may potentially violate an acceptable standard of conduct for City officers and employees. As a result of such investigation, the Commission may issue public censures, recommend disciplinary action, determine the need for remedial or preventative legislation, and make such recommendations to the Mayor and the Council as it deems appropriate.”
Shortly after the Commission discussed its future, citizens stepped forward to ask it to address issues in the present.
Husband and wife Robin and Geri Leigh, of Heckscher Drive, submitted a complaint about some zoning changes requested in their neighborhood not having proper notification before the issue is presented to the Land Use and Zoning Committee.
“We thought this was just our problem, in our neighborhood,” said Robin Leigh. “But it’s much bigger, affecting a lot more people.”
Miller mentioned that she had received similar complaints through the ethics hotline (630-1015) and looked up the code on signage for requested zoning changes.
“The code reads that signage should be posted for a zoning change, but there aren’t any penalties for noncompliance,” said Miller. “This is an example of language we could look into tightening up.”
After taking a moment to digest some of the comments made at Monday night’s meeting, Commission member Helen Ludwig was curious about the next step.
“We’ve heard a lot of disturbing things today,” she said. “Are we going to look into them?”
Miller explained it would be better to address the ethics code and procedures to establish what issues the Commission would be able to address.
“That’s why we need procedures in place to address these issues,” said Miller. “We are not in the position to second-guess everything the City does, but that does not mean we can’t look into issues such as access to public records.”
356-2466