HomeMy Public PortalAbout20061114EABMinutes.pdfEthics Advisory Board
November 14, 2006
Members Present: Charlie Brewer, Randi Bryan, Fretwell Crider, Linda Gladin, Anne Miller,
Sue Off, and Carolyn Smith
Ex-Officos Present: Janice Elliott, Bubba Hughes, Paul Wolff
Members Absent: Lynn Hamilton, Roma Harper
Linda Gladin called the meeting to order and called roll.
Anne made a motion to approve the October minutes. Carolyn seconded the motion. Minutes
were approved.
Ann made a motion to appoint Sue Off as Team Leader of th e Article 5 section and Charlie
Brewer to be the Team Leader of the Handbook section. Randi seconded the motion. Motion
approved.
All meetings with more than 4 members will need to be advertised.
Meeting Dates: No Meeting in December
January 8th
January 22nd
February 19th
March 19th
April 16th
When the new website is available, e-snips maybe become a thing of the past. It depends on
which one works the best for the board members. Todd is establishing a secur ed area for the
Ethics board.
The document numbering/identification scheme changed: Prefixes, Section Names, Version, and
Section Date – Example: SectDraftimpartialityA061010.
Bubba was to give his preference for a method of interpretation . There is a section in Article 2
Declaration of Policy dealing with interpretation and application. Bubba has developed language
that does what it needs to do. He is to email Linda the language and give the location to where
the language needs to be placed and she will add it to Article 2. Bubba stated that it was very
general, but consistent with what is there and what we want it to achieve.
Linda asked Bubba to please comment if he sees the committee going in the wrong direction. He
agreed that he would.
Janice brought information concerning an Ethics Hotline to the board. There is a company called
Global Compliance out of Charleston that provides a 24 hour confidential service to those who
need to report unethical behavior. This would be a third party contract and cost approximately
$5000 for the year. This service is used by Savannah -Chatham County Public School System and
by Memorial Hospital. Linda asked Bubba if there were peculiar issues for a municipality as
opposed to a public school system or hospital. Bubba stated that he would contact Lee Holiday
on the board with his concerns.
Charlie stated that there are a lot of handbooks that we could model. He has looked a several
universities as well as government bodies. Charlie feels that the greatest challenges will be
having a handbook for employees, city elected and appointed officials. Employees will have
certain guideline that addresses more detailed information about ethics in their work place verses
public servants. Another challenge will be to define the training that will accompany the
handbook. Charlie is looking at on line computer testing. Linda stated that it also needs to be
done on paper. Charlie would like to get the handbook team together in early January.
Linda would like to tackle nepotism as a team. Most ethics codes do address nepotism. Paul
stated that nepotism could be a subset of impartiality. Bubba stated that the City Manager was
working on a nepotism rule with respect to the employment situation. Linda stated that the
official side should be addressed. The fairness and impartiality is the most important part of the
ordinance. Linda will come up with something and add it to the impartiality section and get it out
to the members.
The main piece that needs work is the Conflict of Interest – what constitutes conflict of interest
and how you are to behave. That would include reclusal, disclosure, and abstention. There is a
part in our Chart that says if you don’t vote it counts as a positive vote. The Chart does not say
that you have to vote. According to Bubba, if you abstain without disclosure it counts as an
affirmative vote. If you are forced to recluse yourself then a vote is not counted at all. Linda
stated that the reclusal and disclosure need to be place together for a better explanation. Bubba
state that so much of this under the current ordinance is a judgment call. If an elected official
feels that there is a conflict or lack of impartiality then he or she should disqualify his/herself.
This could lead to an argument that this is a vote with the affirmative. This could be tested, but
according to Bubba the best way is for the elected official to recluse his/herself and let the court
draw the legal line. Linda would like to have this one done by next meeting.
The big pieces that are left are Conflict of Interest, Gifts, Nepotism, and Ex-parta
Communications.
Linda is waiting for comments on the last few sections – Requirements of Obey Laws, Honesty,
Use of City Resources, Improper Use of Position, and Sensitive/Confidential Information. She
would like for everyone to look over and comment on before they are brought up for discussion
in the committee meeting. Linda will wait 4 or 5 days for more comments on these sections
before she writes the final draft to be submitted to the committee at the next meeting.
Linda brought up one issue in the Fitness to Serve section. The issue has to do whether or not
there is a second standard for managerial and the laborer. It says that public servant is unfit to
serve if a convicted criminal. A convicted criminal is someone that has committed a
misdemeanor or felony. The wording should be reviewed. It should possibly read a convicted
felony. State laws that control elected officials. Bubba will look at the state guidelines and what
it states. Linda stated that the key is to have a good word or definition for criminal. Bubba
stated that an ordinance should not be so confining as to hold someone accountable to
something they did 20 years ago. He will look at how it reads and adjust accordingly. Linda
stated that this is a good section to have in the ordinance.
Linda felt that the meeting was a good meeting where everyone participated.
Meeting adjourned