REP FC 135 2018/08/21 (2016-2018)

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• • FC-135 Page 2 August 21, 2018 Council Chair Valerie Poindexter feels it all comes down to interpretation. You can call a department and they may tell you what they believe to be true but if it was misspoken or misinterpreted, there is a problem. There is a fine line with interpretation by someone saying what they believe to be true. Ms. Poindexter will not be supporting this because there are so many uncertainties which would cause unintended consequences and liability for the county. Council Member Jennifer Ruggles believes to a certain extent the truth is hard to define but feels the Council could work on defining what the truth is if that is a concern. Ms. O'Hara said this amendment is a policy statement, something to strive for. It doesn't resolve any issue, it states a policy that the county should strive for. Mr. Chung stated this is more than a policy statement, there are recourses that can be had against employees or officers not being truthful. If there is some element of knowingly stating an untrue fact, or being grossly negligent in stating an untrue fact, Mr. Chung would be more inclined to support something like that. This definition opens it up to sanctions by the Board of Ethics. Ms. Lee Loy stated it is more about information presented than is relied upon. She would like to see more accountability on the part of departments. Ms. O'Hara stated it is accuracy of information, being truthful to the best of one's ability or knowledge. This addresses when an employee does not do their due diligence before answering, and is meant to be across the board for the county and not to target a specific department. She then stated her willingness to postpone the bill to gather more feedback. Committee Chair Maile David expressed concern with what appears to be an attempt to legislate truth. It appears the bill stems from misinformation given by a staff person from a department. Based on the discussions with counsel, she will not be able to support the bill. Ms. Lee Loy stated that boundaries are somewhere in between information that the County provides and what an individual relies upon. Ms. Ruggles commented that the way the bill came forward, it seems to address a certain department, but such standards should be held to every department. Your Committee unanimously approved a motion to postpone Bill 160 to the call of the Chair. Comm. 959.2 dated July 19, 2018 from Ms. O'Hara, requested Bill 160 be placed on the next available agenda. The bill was before Your Committee on August 7, 2018; however Ms. O'Hara was not available. Your Committee unanimously approved a motion to postpone the bill to August 21, 2018. At the August 21 meeting, Communication No. 959.1, from Ms. O'Hara, transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 160 was presented. The amendments were a result of discussion held during the • FC Report No. 135