Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/28/2009 Special Meeting / Study Session 42 YAKIMA CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING — STUDY SESSION JULY 28, 2009 8:00 — 9:30 A.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1. Roll CaII • Present: Council: Mayor Dave Edler, presiding, Assistant Mayor Micah Cawley, Council Members Maureen Adkison, Kathy Coffey, Rick Ensey, Bill Lover, and Sonia Rodriguez Staff: City Manager Zais, Assistant City Attorney Mitchell, and City Clerk Moore 2. Draft Code of Ethics Assistant City Attorney Jim Mitchell described his research in preparing the proposed code of ethics. In Washington State, numerous municipalities have adopted versions of a code of ethics. Some are merely inspiration, e.g. the 1958 code of ethics adopted by the House of Representatives, and others that are more structured codes that include a checklist and advancing ideals of what we can and cannot do in public service. He estimated that in Washington State over half of the cities with populations over 5,000 have some type of code. Some municipalities even criminalize violating codes by making them a misdemeanor. A few samples have been submitted to Council for ideas. Assistant Mayor Cawley asked if it was possible to have the City Attorney's office do the violation claims investigation rather than an Ethics Committee as described in the proposal. Mr. Mitchell said that, although it is possible, it is dependent on Council's desire; if public perception is important, in a larger city it is less so. The role is a fact - finding /advisory position. Council Member Rodriguez suggested that using the City Attorney could be a possible conflict of interest and utilizing a separate committee would maintain the best perception of fairness. Mr. Mitchell described the suggested make -up of the Ethics Committee. • One or two former elected officials recommended by AWC; someone with experience who knows the lay of the land • People from educational professions and businesses, both for - profit and non - profit • Someone with substantial experience in human resources A group structure such as that would carry a lot of credibility. Another option would be a random draw similar to a jury pool; but that would carry some risks. 43 STUDY SESSION —.CODE OF ETHICS JULY 28, 2009 In response to questions about the actual process, Mr. Mitchell suggested the committee would be charged with developing their own protocol. It could be as simple as getting together for quick fact finding to decide whether they have jurisdiction. If it is decided the committee should be a sanctioning body and there is a preponderance of facts, theoretically, they could come up with a sanction to be presented to the appropriate authority. A list of potential sanctions is included in the proposal. City Manager Zais also noted that much depends on the empowerment given the committee. They would refer their findings to the appropriate body with jurisdictional authority; the City Manager, in the case of an employee, or possibly the State Auditor or the State Attorney General's office. The options would depend on the issue. More commonly than not, the issue is a misunderstanding of the rules, but for accountability there has to be a referral somewhere if findings are proven to have merit. He impressed the necessity of keeping in mind that when there is an investigation pending there will be employees, managers or others who will retain legal council to represent them. Whoever is in the fact - finding /advisory role to the governing body must be aware of that. That's part of the necessity of • having some expertise on the committee itself. Upon questioning, Mr. Zais pointed out that the examples given cover either just the governing body, the governing body and all exempt employees, or it could also extend to all employees and boards and commissions. If it was Council's intent to have it apply to employees under unions, it would have to be negotiated. Council Member Coffey questioned what was in the proposal that isn't already in the employee manual and the City Charter. Mr. Mitchell explained that the RCWs cover conflicts of interest and the City Charter is just a small paragraph. The proposal is a thorough concise reiteration. It expands to include areas such as undue influence and re- employment after leaving. Council Member Coffey requested the opportunity to see a comparison with the employee manual suggesting that we need to be careful not to create another layer of bureaucracy. Council Member Lover agreed and said he would like to see how much duplication there is with the RCWs. If there are only a few things that have been added, he suggested another approach may be possible. Mr. Mitchell advised that, in the past, there have been memos from Council asking for information that is already in the RCWs. This format would be a concise compilation. He described Tess common methods used such as a single hearing examiner to hear the complaints, usually done in smaller municipalities. Another option is for the Council to be self - policing, but in the environment of a larger city council, there could be issues regarding public perception that could be a severe detriment and cause problems. If there were allegations against certain council members, they would have to recuse themselves, which could set up a "battle in the pit" scenario. Council Member Adkison questioned whether the Council knew why we were doing this? She said a lot of the proposal is just common sense. Council Member Coffey referred to the recent issue concerning an alleged violation of the Open Meetings Act. Both Adkison and Coffey commented that subject was not covered in the proposal. Council Member Coffey, referring to the recent incident, said she wasn't 2 44 STUDY SESSION — CODE OF ETHICS JULY 28, 2009 aware of a ruling on the allegation that got all the publicity. She stated, if we keep layering on more rules, officials won't be able to even move. Assistant Mayor Cawley commented about public perception if they voted against the code of ethics. Council Member Coffey responded that the public needs to be concerned with what Council is doing, not how they are voting. Council Member Rodriguez reminded them that the goal is to increase public trust and that public officials should have integrity. Council Member Lover commented that perception is a disturbing word and he sees how it could rule over the facts. He said he would like to see a definition of ethics. It was noted that the purpose statement written on the first page of the draft document defines the intent of a code of ethics. Council Member Coffey said she wanted to be sure adopting a code of ethics was being done for the right reason, not just to make the public comfortable. Rodriguez suggested it not cover employees but only public officials since employees are covered by other policies. Mayor Edler suggested that it also cover appointed boards and commissions in order to give leverage if a poor choice had been made in a selection of a board member. He then gave his opinion on why this is being proposed. He referred to agreements made during a Council retreat that were not kept which developed a lack of trust and there has been a lack of accountability. He is looking for a tool that will create accountability and begin to build public trust. Council Member Adkison suggested the code of ethics be more like the sample from Federal Way, simple and clear -cut. Mayor Edler supported a statement from the Richland code with regard to how Council members should not make false statements and that accountability for words spoken is a key component for him. Council Member Ensey also noted specifics he liked, e.g. "a council member must obtain approval of the council by motion to represent the City to any organization..." He suggested we could select items from each sample to create our own. He also commented that, although criminalization sounds Draconian, it makes sense. Assistant Mayor Cawley supported the section about having to pay for false accusations. CAWLEY MOVED AND RODRIGUEZ SECONDED TO FORWARD THE CODE OF ETHICS TO THE COUNCIL RULES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE, HAVING IT INCLUDE THE RCW LANGUAGE TO COVER EXEMPT EMPLOYEES BUT ELIMINATE GENERAL EMPLOYEES. Prior to taking a vote on the motion, the subject was opened for audience comments. 3. Audience Comments Claire Powell, 3003 Bonnie Doone, supported the idea of a code of ethics. She stated that the general public doesn't know what goes on and would feel more comfortable with a code of ethics that allowed citizens to complain, if necessary, and get some type of action. She did not like the idea of self policing saying it would look like a whitewash. She felt the ethics committee should be on a voluntary basis and that an ordinary citizen should be on the committee as well as someone with human resource experience and someone with legal experience. 3 45 STUDY SESSION - CODE OF ETHICS JULY 28, 2009 Mary Place, 5710 Marilane, felt the reason for an ethics code was to bring all the information together so the public sees that Council members understand their roles and responsibilities. She believes that, technically, it is the city manager's job to deal with codes of conduct for employees. She has heard that the City Council is the public face of our community and citizens want that face to be dignified and have integrity. It doesn't mean there aren't spirited debates with differences of opinion, but how we treat each other both publicly and privately is very important. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. It was agreed that the Rules and Procedures Committee consists of Cawley, Rodriguez, and Lover with Adkison selected as the alternate. 4. Adjournment to August 4, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers for the next Council Business Meeting CAWLEY MOVED AND RODRIGUEZ SECONDED TO ADJOURN TO AUGUST 4, 2009 AT 2:00 P.M. IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS FOR THE COUNCIL BUSINESS MEETING. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 9:03 a.m. AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY . -7 READ A C TIFIED ACCU ` i �� COUNCIL MEMBER . DATE . - a3 COUNCIL MEMBE DATE ATTEST: CITY CLERK DAVID EDLE £YOR Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. A CD and DVD of this meeting are available in the City Clerk's Office 4