2007-09-12 Board of Ethics Minutes mc

Home

Mr. Ashida said that he checked with the State Ethics Commission to see if they had a code of conduct for its members, and they do not. Before Paul deSilva resigned from the Police Commission, he'd recommended that police commissioners develop their own rules of conduct and be held to a higher standard. The Chair stated that was what he wanted, for them to be held to a higher standard and be more aware of certain things. Mr. Dill also agreed and questioned how to go about establishing it. Mr. Ashida explained that the County's Code of Ethics is patterned almost identically to the State's code, and was passed in 2002. He suggested that since the Board also will be in the process of amending its rules, it include a section in there on the standard of conduct for commissioners. It would have to noticed as a public hearing under Chapter 91. He suggested Board members submit written recommendations to discuss. Ms. Lum stated that she felt they should start at the bottom and deal with the basic questions of what members can and cannot do, and conflicts. Since the population is not large and each of them are at a different place in their liberalness, they need to come from the bottom up. The Chair explained that the unfortunate incident with former Board member Sharpless prompted this issue, so their code of conduct needs to be clear. Mr. Dill said the key is that members need to be straightforward and forthright with possible conflicts or perceived conflicts, and the Chair said it even involves whether Board members can write letters to the editor, stating their opinions in public. They need to ask themselves these questions. They want to be perceived by the public as being ethical both as a Board and in their personal lives. Mr. Ashida said that since the First Amendment was brought up earlier in the meeting, he wanted to explain that it deals with and regulates the content of peoples' expression, but not the manner of their expression. The Board was not promoting censorship, but wanted people to pay attention to the way they express themselves. Since the Board is concerned about the appearance of impropriety, its members want the public to know that their lives are conducted in such a way that no one would have reason to doubt their honesty or ethics. The Chair asked Mr. Ashida his opinion on whether a code of conduct was worthy of pursuing, and Mr. Ashida said that former Judge deSilva felt very strongly about it, and that he felt it would be a great thing, too. Ms. Lum said that since recent Board issues involved strong personalities and how people express themselves, this is a worthy project, although it would be difficult to put the code into simple and understandable language. Motion: Mr. Dill moved to pursue updating and changing the code of conduct for Board of Ethics members, in conjunction with its rules of practice and procedure, in a manner to be determined by the Chair. Ms. Malanka seconded the motion. 17