Staff Writer
The Jacksonville Ethics Commission presented its goals for 2010 during its meeting Monday in City Council chambers, with a continued goal of independence for the Ethics Office along with several new ideas.
Before announcing the additional goals, Chair Kirby Oberdorfer reviewed the 2009 agenda for the group, which provides a local forum for consideration and investigation of ethical problems and issues.
Last year’s goals included independence for the Ethics Office, an additional focus on the procurement process, clarification of the duties of the commission and Ethics Office, feedback from elected officials, public records and JEA oversight.
Oberdorfer said most of those goals were accomplished through a presentation to the Charter Review Commission.
Ethics Officer Carla Miller then added several items to the 2010 agenda.
First was discussion for revision of parts of the Ethics Code, which will need to be reviewed by the group’s legislative subcommittee.
“Some of the ethics code needs to be revised,” she said. Miller said she analyzed the status of ethics commissions in large U.S. cities and found that while Jacksonville’s office is behind in some areas, it’s ahead in others.
Miller’s recommendations included:
• A Charter Revision Commission follow-up. Last year’s Ethics Commission meetings resulted in recommendations for the Charter Revision Commission, with five ideas emerging as the basis for its presentation. Charter Revision chose two of them, said Miller, and since then, no action has been taken on them by City Council. Miller wants to review the original five recommendations and present them to City Council.
• A revisit of an Ethics Commission recommendation of disclosure by lobbyist contracts of more than $250,000 to create transparency for citizens.
• Banning all gifts for city employees and public officials from lobbyists.
• Discussion of a log of lobbyist contacts with city officials, something Miller said several municipalities in South Florida have undertaken.
• More oversight by the Ethics Commission Office in lobbying compliance.
• A look into procurement contracts, including subcontracts, for disclosure and transparency.
• Enacting a “code of silence” for procurement officials while they review submitted bids. Several cities have enacted similar actions, said Miller.
• The reporting of campaign contributions during the bidding process of projects.
• Instituting a public hearing on contracts that are voted on but then are amended to potentially change their structure.
“I think that’s certainly a full plate for us this year,” said Oberdorfer, who later said she was confident several of the recommendations would be completed.
The next meeting of the Ethics Commission will be 5 p.m. May 24.
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