An ad hoc committee is examining ways to insulate the board from political influence, including shifting appointment power to a future inspector general.
Board of Ethics Explores Charter Protections, Independent Appointments
An ad hoc committee is examining ways to insulate the board from political influence, including shifting appointment power to a future inspector general.
The Board of Ethics on Thursday discussed possible changes to the city charter that would add the board to the charter and shift board appointment power to a future inspector general who has not yet been selected.
The conversation is part of an ad hoc committee's work to explore ways to make the board more independent and reduce potential conflicts of interest.
"Adding the Board of Ethics to the city charter is so that – given prior incidents or prior hearings and comments that were made by city council members about the board of ethics – the [board] can't be dissolved or removed," he said, adding that the purpose of the Inspector General appointing the [board] members moving forward is to decrease or to remove bias from the board.
"What happens in some instances is there's complaints filed against city council members and then people have to recuse themselves...if they know the city council member, if they're friends with the city council member," he said. "Or sometimes there may be a feeling of loyalty to the individuals that [appointed them], [and it] would obviously eliminate that with the inspector general appointing the board of ethics members."
Board Member Gil Vega said the board looked at ethics boards from other cities for research.
"We've done the research with other cities and we found that this is a common trend throughout all of ... the ethics boards," he said. "They have their own commission or what have you. It's an independent entity, which gives the public more confidence in the effect and more representation of their needs and services."
The board also discussed how complaints are handled now and whether that process would need to change if the board's structure is altered. Board members said they were still working through details such as whether complaints and pre-hearing proceedings should remain private until a case is found to have merit.
The potential changes remain merely a discussion topic for now, as several key steps must take place within the city first.
Some members asked what would happen if the inspector general has not yet been appointed when any charter changes are considered. The city attorney said there is no deadline for filling the inspector general position, though applications have been submitted and the appointment process is still underway.
Board members said the ad hoc committee will continue gathering information and bring back more details at a future meeting. Staff said the Charter Review Commission is not yet formed, and any potential charter changes would still have to move through a longer process before reaching voters.
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