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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995/12/07 Board of Ethics Minutes CITY OF CHULA VISTA, CALIFORNIA MINUTES OF A BOARD OF ETHICS MEETING December 7, 1995 City Attorney's Conference Room 4:15 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT: Susan Herney, Cochrane, virgil Billy Kelley Richard Schulman, Douglas Whitehead, Joanne Carson, and MEMBERS ABSENT: None OTHERS PRESENT: Lorraine Kraker, Secy. to City Attorney The meeting was called to order by Chair Herney at 4:20 p.m. 1. Oral Communications. None. 2. Roll Call. Roll was called and all members were present. 3. Approval of Minutes MS (Carson/Cochrane) to approve circulated. Motion approved Schulman noted he would like to the Board agenda notice. the 5-1 see minutes of November 2, 1995 as (Herney abstained). Member the Mission Statement added to 4. Member's Comments. Members Carson and Whitehead brought in one-liners from the Josephson Institute for distribution. Chairman Herney shared three newspaper articles with the Board: . 12/5/95 Union Tribune article regarding Mayor Susan Golding losing her bid for an ethics panel. . 10/21/95 L.A. Times article announcing the firing of the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission. . 11/28/95 Union Tribune article relating to Cox communications agreeing to pay a $42,000 fine for reimbursing employees who made campaign contributions. Susan Herney mentioned she had a copy of the August 25, 1995 edition of the U/T containing a column on religion and ethics wherein ethical questions were submitted to school children. Ms. Herney would make it available to any of the members who wished to Board of Ethics 12-07-95 Minutes Page 2 see it. Chairman Herney agreed to contact the ethics and religion editor, Sandi Dolbee. Douglas Cochrane noted the selection process for the Board of Ethics, by going through the jUdicial system, is an excellent one. Member Kelley queried if anyone knew if the procedure regarding criminal activity for 10 years prior to the date of appointment had been verified. Chairman Herney responded she did not know, but had sent a letter to each of the applicants notifying them of the city Code provision. 5. Follow Up on Ethics Proqrams. Member Schulman will contact the city Manager's secretary, at the behest of the Board, to schedule a date to be placed on the agenda for the department head meeting. Susan Herney noted the motion of the Board at its November meeting to write a letter to the Chamber of Commerce to be included in their program. She will draft a letter before their Board meeting next Wednesday and FAX to Lorraine. Billy Kelly mentioned spreading the word to the other committees such as the Education Committee and Economic Development. The Chamber starts its business year on January 6 and Ms. Herney can obtain a list of the committee chairs and write the letter generically to ask that it be distributed to each committee. Member Cochrane questioned if it is appropriate for the Board to use city letterhead. The secretary will check with Jeri Gulbransen regarding the use of the City's logo and seal. In addition, she will check on costs for printing a ream of letterhead. It was agreed to include the Mission statement across the bottom of the page and Board of Ethics underneath the city logo. 6. Mission statement Workshop - Part II. The Board decided to carry this item over to the next agenda. 7. Disposition of Penny Allen Matter. Chairman Herney noted the newspaper articles regarding Ms. Allen distributed with today's agenda. The FPPC concluded Penny Allen violated conflict of interest provisions of the Political Reform Act. Ms. Herney requested the City Attorney to follow-up with the FPPC to determine if the $3,500 fine had been paid. The Attorney's office was informed the fine had been paid in full. Board of Ethics 12-07-95 Minutes Page 3 At the 6/26/95 Ethics meeting, a motion was made to table the matter until the issue is no longer in the jurisdiction of the FPPC. Now that the matter has been dealt with by the FPPC, Chair Herney solicited opinions as to what to do. Member Cochrane felt at a minimum a letter of censure should be sent stating displeasure over the actions taken by Ms. Allen. Richard Schulman and Virgil Whitehead agreed it's a legal issue and advice is needed from the City Attorney. Chair Herney noted a 60- day meter exists in the City Code for investigation of complaints and our procedures need to be checked. However, in the broad sense this is clearly another reason for educating b/c/c's and use this as an opportunity to stress education. It was decided to table this matter until the Board has the benefit of legal counsel. 8. Ethics Ordinance Amendment. The ordinance needs to be reviewed to determine if there are holes that need fixing when the Board is faced with a complaint and what options are available. 9. Campaiqn contribution Ordinance. Susan Herney spoke to the City Attorney with regard to the Campaign Contribution ord inance. The secretary distributed the latest version approved by the City Council at its December 5, 1995 meeting which deletes campaign Debt and Independent Expenditure Committees. General discussion ensued with the following comments: (1) forms should be more specific and detailed with a brief explanation of what money is spent for (2) recommend a city office enforce the specifications on the form (3) the City Clerk should issue a summary of the contributions to make it easier for the public to understand and (4) make sure the public knows who supports candidates. It was decided the Chairman would discuss with the City Attorney whether or not to invite the city Clerk to attend the next meeting. The next meeting will be held on either January 4 or January 11, 1996 depending on the city Attorney's calendar. Board of Ethics 12-07-95 Minutes Page 4 MSUC (Schulman/Kelly) to adjourn the meeting at 5:30 p.m. Those members wishing to stay to view the ethics video from Boeing were welcome to do so. cP~ {L.q{~ Lorraine A. Kraker C:\ethics\minutes\12-07-95