2007-02-14 Board of Ethics Minutes Regular Session

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Board of Ethics Minutes of Regular Session February 14, 2007 BLT: It has bothered me, but it was the battle between trying to make it short and sweet and then looking at it, especially for new employees, as the first opportunity to put something in front of them. I did not want to leave out information that might be important to them. I wondered if there is one section I should highlight it a little more, and that is penalties. See page 4, penalties for failure to file. I guess you don't pay that much attention to those things when you are filing, but I thought the idea that candidates could end up with a year in jail was an attention getter. I don't think many people are aware of it, I doubt it would happen, but that it is in the County Code. Not only a $1000.00 dollar fine, but also a year in jail. AL: And imprisonment, not or? BLT: Yeah, like wow. KS: I like it the way it is. Taking off on what Ann just said, this is 2007 and things are not simple. Our world is not simple and I think anybody who has a job, regardless of what it is, has a responsibility beyond just showing up. This is serious business; we can't distill it and make it simple. We can't make it palatable. This is life. AL: I do think the Ethics Checklist sort of addresses that, a quick read. KS: Right, it is a checklist. That is true. I really like this cover letter, Bobby Jean, I really do. I like the whole document, as is. As people are hired, the people doing the hiring need to tell them that this is not something that you just put in a drawer. This is the real thing. AL: This is probably good that the penalties are listed. BW: I would like to weigh in on this too. How long is our term of office here? Five years? I can't believe I came in five years ago. Anyway, I came in here five years ago and Bobby Jean was not a councilperson, and said what we need to pay attention to is this, all this. And we have been hacking at it for five years. Looking at it in a very holistic way this is a great final, finished product. We had nothing to begin with, we now have this. Once the council takes action you can fill in the missing pieces. Put the attachment on the back and we are good to go for the next five or ten years. If there is a motion in order I would move to accept and file this? AL: We still have some revisions. WJ: I think we need to put it on the next agenda. BW: I move to accept this and defer this to the following agenda for continuation. AL: Second. 7