by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
The pursuit of excellence in ethics was recognized by the City’s Ethics Commission at its first meeting of the new year Monday.
Previously, the Commission voted to award the “City of Jacksonville Ethics Commission Annual Award for Excellence in Ethics” to both a public official and a private citizen. The first honorees were City Council member Clay Yarborough and journalist Marvin Edwards.
“It is an honor to be recognized by the Ethics Commission,” said Yarborough. “But I am glad the award is structured to recognize the ethical act rather than the person.”
Yarborough sponsored ordinance 2008-839, which was developed to clarify what was included in the “Consolidated City of Jacksonville” to outline the groups that were subject to the City’s ethics code. This clarification included the City’s independent authorities.
Edwards has kept a keen eye on the operation of City government for decades to inform taxpayers on how their money was being used and his efforts to gain public records detailing renovations to Jacksonville Municipal Stadium prior to the Jacksonville Jaguars arrival in the City and records detailing the expenses of the Super Bowl Host Committee illustrated deficiencies in the City’s response to public records requests. These problems were recognized by the Office of General Counsel, which pledged to install a better system of reviewing and responding to requests. Edwards humbly accepted the award and offered some suggestions for the City to strengthen its Ethics Commission.
A new year also meant a request for new legislation to the City Council. The Commission voted to request that the Council amend Chapters 50 — “Organization of Boards and Commissions” — and 602 — “Jacksonville Ethics Code” — to allow the Ethics Commission to “meet in the shade” when investigating probable cause matters to determine whether or not allegations presented to the Commission are valid and require further investigation. City Ethics Officer Carla Miller pointed out that the State Ethics Code allows the Commission shade meetings, and the amendment would conform the City’s code to the State code.
The first meeting of the new year also displayed some reorganization of the Ethics Commission. Kirby Oberdorfer replaced Gene Filbert as chair of the Commission and Braxton Gillam is the new vice chair. Attorney L.E. Hutton replaced Pat Sher as the State Attorney’s appointee on the Commission. Sher was appointed two years ago by former State Attorney Harry Shorstein. The seat on the Commission currently held by Patrick Plumlee is also up for appointment, and this seat is appointed by the City Council.
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