by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
The future of ethics in City government was the focus of the City’s Ethics Commission at its regular meeting Monday at City Hall.
The day before an ethics bill was to be considered by the City Council Finance Committee, and possibly moved to the full council for a vote on whether to return it to the City Charter, the commission met to discuss the amendments made to the bill by the finance committee.
The committee is scheduled to discuss the bill at 10 a.m. today.
“If you just put the word ‘ethics’ back in the charter and it doesn’t have any support, then it’s shallow and does a disservice to the people that wanted to see it back in the charter,” said City Ethics Officer Carla Miller.
During its last meeting in October, the finance committee approved some amendments to the bill that the commission wanted time to discuss
One amendment states that “the Ethics Commission shall not duplicate any other board or agency of the local, state or federal government without going to that board or agency first.”
Miller feared that could assist in the defense of an ethics charge.
“If I’m a defense attorney, I’m going to go back through every board and agency to see if there is any duplication,” said Miller. “This could provide someone with an easy out.”
The amendments also included deleting giving the commission the authority to levy civil fines or penalties authorized by council for violations of the City’s Ethics Code.
The finance committee also deleted the authority to act as the hiring committee for the administrative staff of the ethics oversight and compliance office.
“The amendments approved by the finance committee are more restrictive than what the Charter Review Commission suggested,” said Kirby Oberdorfer, chair of the Ethics Commission.
“I agree, this is a step backwards,” said Scott Shine, Ethics Commission member.
Commission Vice Chair Braxton Gillam proposed a resolution that opposed the amendments, but asked for a meeting with council members and former members of the Charter Revision Commission to discuss why the Ethics Commission opposes the amendments.
The resolution was approved 8-0 and will be presented to council today.
The next meeting of the Ethics Commission is scheduled for 4 p.m. Nov. 10.
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