The chairman of the City’s Ethics Commission had an opening question for Carla Miller, who has been serving as the City Ethics officer.
“What are you doing sitting in the audience?” asked Commission Chairman Braxton Gillam of Miller, who was appointed City Ethics Officer by former Mayor John Peyton.
“I’m a citizen,” said Miller.
Miller said Tuesday during a meeting of the City’s Ethics Commission that she has been working on a volunteer basis as the City’s Ethics Officer since August because new Mayor Alvin Brown hasn’t appointed anyone to the position.
Chris Hand, Brown’s chief of staff, said Wednesday that the administration expects to “have movement on the Ethics Office by next month.” He said the office is part of reorganization and has not yet been approved by City Council.
The vacancy, along with the mayor’s decision not to fund the Office of the Inspector General in his first budget, left two positions empty that are responsible for oversight of City government.
The commission wasn’t sure whose responsibility it was that the Ethics Officer position was vacant.
New City Ordinance 2011-197 created the Office of Ethics, Compliance and Oversight and charged the commission with appointing a director for that office subject to Council approval.
The office was created to remove the ethics officer from the mayor’s staff and make it a more independent body.
That same legislation allows the Ethics Commission to appoint a director of the office for an interim basis of 180 days in the event of a vacancy.
The Ethics Commission voted unanimously to appoint Miller to the position and recommend to Council that Miller be appointed on a permanent basis.
The commission and its new director plan to meet with Brown to discuss the transition from the Ethics Office to the Office of Ethics, Compliance and Oversight.
“There is a budget for the Ethics Officer, but that funding has been frozen because there hasn’t been an appointment by the mayor,” said Miller.
“In order for that money to go anywhere there would have to be an authorization to transfer it from one account, which is the Ethics Officer account, to another account.”
The mayor budgeted $83,076 for the Ethics Office, down from $93,225 in the previous budget.
Miller has continued to operate the City’s Ethics Hotline and answer questions from City employees and Council members since Brown took office.
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