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Home My WebLink About1995/08/14 Board of Ethics Minutes CITY OF CHULA VISTA, CALIFORNIA MINUTES OF A BOARD OF ETHICS MEETING August 14, 1995 City Attorney's Conference Room 3:30 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT: Susan Herney, Joanne Carson, Richard Schulman, Jerry McNutt and Billy Kelley MEMBERS ABSENT: Harriet Acton, Martha Villegas STAFF PRESENT: Bruce M. Boogaard, City Attorney Lorraine Kraker, Secy. to City Attorney The meeting was called to order by Vice-Chairman Herney at 3:30 p.m. 1. Roll was called and all members were present except Harriet Acton and Martha Villegas who were out of town and excused. 2. MSUC (McNutt/ Schulman) to approve the minutes of July 24, 1995. 3. Mission Statement and Council Report on Ethics Traininq. The Board reviewed the latest version of the A-113 Report on Ethics Training. Richard Schulman suggesting adding a new subsection 7 to read: "Informal meetings should be coordinated by the Training Officer which would provide an opportunity for discussions about practical applications and interpretation of ethical principles within City government." Joanne Carson wanted to go a step further by making a strong statement on the application that all board and commission members would receive training at least once over a two-year period and that it be stated on the application. The consensus was to add a new #2 to the Board/Commission Recommendation to read: "All board and commission members should receive at a minimum annual review of (1) Brown Act (2) FPPC Conflict of Interest and (3) an opportunity to participate in an 'ethics beyond the code' type workshop emphasizing ethical awareness. Applications for commission positions and the board/commission/committee handbook should reflect this expectation." (The remaining sections will be renumbered. ) MSUC (McNutt/Schulman) to accept the report as amended. The secretary will place it on the September 5 Council agenda. It was mentioned that a representative from the Board should be present at the time Council considers it. Board of Ethics 8-14-95 Minutes Page 2 Jerry McNutt submitted a review by the members. until the next meeting. draft mission statement he prepared for Member Schulman wanted to hold it over In accordance with the wording in the first sentence of the second paragraph, Attorney Boogaard inquired if it applied to all city employees? Jerry McNutt replied it was meant to set a standard for ethical guidelines. Susan Herney believes that the Code of Ethics is a manifestation of principles we advocate for the city of Chula vista regardless of to whom it specifically applies. When thinking about the mission statement, she looked at !;2.28.010 to incorporate it to read: "The purpose of this commission is to establish ethical standards of conduct by promoting the study of ethics, setting forth those acts or actions that are incompatible with the best interests of. the city and by directing disclosure by such officials of private financial or other conflict of interests in matters affecting the city". Attorney Boogaard stated that the mission of the Board has historically been threefold: (1) set ethical standards by defining in a code fashion what is right and wrong (2) judging the behavior of people against those standards and (3) to render advisory opinions. Susan Herney added promoting the study of ethics as a concept and as part of the governmental trust. The Board agreed the mission statement should take a pro-active approach, raise ethical consciousness, be best if it is concise. Susan suggested "maintaining the public trust through ethics standards and training" and liked the city Attorney's four-part approach. Billy Kelly mentioned there are mission standards and mission goals. He suggested "The mission of the Board of Ethics shall be to uphold public trust through the research of ethics". The consensus was to have the mission statement be short and have another statement on how the goals can be accomplished. Susan Herney volunteered to craft wording for the next meeting to be reviewed by the Board. vice-Chair Herney received a mailing from the Chamber of Commerce soliciting participation in "Leadership Chula vista" which is a series of six training sessions beginning September 12 designed to develop leadership. Topics include "Vision in Leadership", "Economic Development Bus Tour", Local Government & Public Safety", "Education", "Health & Human Services", and "Volunteerism". Board of Ethics 8-14-95 Minutes Page 3 Tuition is $150, plus a $25 application fee. this program and felt it is very worthwhile. Susan has attended Member Herney suggested that we ask to be put on the agenda or send a person to represent the role of ethics in City government for the 9/26/95 session on Local Government. MS (Kelley/Carson) with respect to the "Leadership Chula vista" course, that a member from the Board of Ethics be a representative speaker on 9/26/95. Motion amended to include a member of the Board city Training Coordinator to attend the course. unanimously. of Ethics or the Motion carried Member Schulman inquired if this needed to be cleared with the City Manager or the City Council. MSUC (Carson/Schulman) in light of the urgent nature and time sensitiveness of this issue, the Board will consider "Leadership Chula vista today. MSUC (Carson/ Schulman) to request the Acting Chairman to carry to the Chamber of Commerce Board meeting on Tuesday, August 15, 1995, the Board of Ethics request. 4. Report on Campaiqn Contribution Ordinance. city Attorney Boogaard diagrammed campaign expenditure limitation versus contributions limitation regulations. The state focuses its attention on campaign contributions limitations and the City's ordinance focuses almost exclusively on contributions limitations and not on the expenditure side. Our ordinance only regulates a candidate from collecting greater than $250. Independent expenditure committees are formed and they are not regulated by City ordinance because they are not candidates. Organizations can make major contributions to IECs who can send out last minute mailers. Rules on the state level regulate IECs from conducting its activities at the behest of the candidate. Jerry McNutt felt we have to go with a "quick fix" to have the same limits for the IECs that you have for the individual candidates. Member Schulman noted as a substitute for ethical behavior, we are trying to change the law so people who are not acting in an ethical fashion can be controlled. The City Attorney asked the Board for appropriate solutions and the consensus was to make all rules the same for IECs as individual candidates. Attorney Boogaard said he would return with language to the Board at their next meeting. Board of Ethics 8-14-95 Minutes Page 4 MSUC (Carson/Kelley) to adjourn the meeting at 4:49 p.m. to their next meeting scheduled for Monday, September 11, 1995 at 3:30 p.m. cA~~~u W:~I~e"l Lorraine Kraker C:\ethics\.inutes\8-14-9S