HomeMy Public PortalAbout20060828.pdfEthics Advisory Board
July 24, 2006
Members Present: Randi Bryan, Linda Gladin, Roma Harper, Susan Hill, Anne Miller, and Sue Off
Ex-Officos Present: Janice Elliott, Paul Wolff, and Bubba Hughes
Members Absent: Lynn Hamilton and Bobby Phillips
Guests: Sandy and Dave Postal
Linda Gladin called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone.
There was a motion from Susan Hill to accept the June minutes and Ann Miller seconded. Minutes were
approved.
Postpone the term lengths and election of officers until by-laws are written and are in place.
Meeting schedule for the near term will be the fourth Monday of every month at 3:00 pm. City Hall
auditorium is not available for those meeting. Janice will check with Jason Nobles to see if the YEPPIES
Room is available.
Email will be the best way to communicate. For those who do not receive email, material will be
delivered to them or it can be picked up at City Hall.
Paul spoke about the importance of committee’s work and amount of effort members will have to exert.
He expressed the appreciation from council to each member for devoting their time to serve on this
board.
Bubba pointed out that EAB is quasi-legislative and will need to be sworn in by the Mayor. Linda stated
that perhaps Jason could do the oath at one of our meetings. Linda will contact Jason concerning this.
He also stated the importance of the committee’s work and how much a comprehensive ordinance is
needed. He expressed that it is important to provide guidelines that keep officials and employees from
getting into “awkward” situations.
According to Paul and Bubba, the scope of this ordinance is to include, as applicable, elected officials,
employees and volunteers.
Roma wanted to go on record that she wanted no part in being on the Ethics Board after the code is
written and approved because she did not want to sit on a board that would sit in judgment of any city
officials or city employees. She felt that it was the duty of the State Codes of Georgia to take care of the
officials and the City Manager to take care of the employees.
The draft of the by-laws was reviewed. There was extensive discussion. Bubba is to review the correct
version of the ordinance that created the Advisory Ethics Board.
It was established that the actual enacted ordinance should not include any language that allow the
Ethics Advisory Board to do anything except write ordinance and handbook. The Ethics Advisory Board is
to draft the ordinance. The ordinance is to contain language that spells out the due process and
establishes a quasi-judicial group to assist council in implementing, administering, and enforcing the
ordinance. This quasi-judicial group is not necessarily the same group as the Ethics Advisory Board. The
ordinance will have to be maintained after it is implemented. The Ethics Advisory Board should stay in
place and active for this quasi-legislative purpose.
Linda purposed that the subcommittee (Susan, Sue and Janice) meet and revisit the draft of the by -laws
and deal with the language issues and other issues that incurred during the review.
Linda stated that she would like to report to the Council at the last council meeting of the month . Paul is
to check with Vivian about adding a “Committee Report Section” to the Council agenda on the last
Council meeting of the month. The EAB is to present significant “chunks” of the ordinance to the
Mayor/Council and City Manager when it’s available so they may review and respond accordingly so that
the chance of a re-write is minimized.
It was discussed that the ordinance be written in the simplest form of English possible so that it could be
understood by all. Bubba will give specific guidance on the language that needs to be used, but will keep
it as simple as possible.
It was discussed that the City of Tybee has been established as a Certified City of Ethics and with that
certain minimum requirements need to be met in the ordinance. Questions were raised whether or not
the State of Georgia Code of Ethics needed to be incorporated as written out or referenced and if a table
of contents could be use. According to Bubba, the ordinance can have a table of contents.
Members were asked to review the draft copy of the legislative intent and purpose before the next
meeting and email comments, additions or deletions prior to the next meeting.
Roma motioned to adjourn the meeting and seconded by Ann Miller.
Meeting adjourned