2007-12-12 Board of Ethics Minutes Regular Session

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Ms. Nicholson asked Mr. Ashida whether the Board could ask him to follow up on whether a respondent received a notice, and Mr. Ashida said yes. Ms. Lum said she would be happy with that. Ms. Lum next moved to Rule 4.12, regarding the publication of advisory opinions, and asked whether the Board's opinions were published or just available. The Chair said he interprets the word "published" as written. Mr. Ashida said that to him, "published" means something that is accessible to the public. Mr. Ashida said that his office's website is in the process of being updated, and he has asked that a portion be dedicated to the Board of Ethics, with a link to the actual opinions. Ms. Lum next moved to Rule 8. 1, regarding who is to file financial disclosures. There was a recent ordinance passed that updated the Code on who is to file disclosures, so the rule should be updated to follow the Code. For Rule 813b, regarding where disclosure forms can be obtained, Ms. Lum wondered why the rules included information about public financial disclosures, since all disclosures reviewed by it were of the confidential type. In addition, the confidential disclosure forms are not available at the County Clerk's office. Discussion was had on whether Rule 8.3a should be deleted and Rule 8.3b amended. It was decided to keep 8.3a and to amend 8.3b to explain that public financial disclosure forms could be obtained from the County Clerk's Office, and confidential financial disclosure forms could be obtained from the Office of the Corporation Counsel or the Board of Ethics website. Ms. Lum directed the Board to Rule 1.5, regarding disqualification of Board members and asked whether anything needed to be changed. The Chair felt it was fine as is. Both Ms. Lum and Ms. Nicholson asked Mr. Ashida about the terms "bias" and "prejudice" and whether they were stronger than a conflict of interest. Mr. Ashida said they were, as they involve a certain amount of emotional investment. A person could have a conflict of interest but not have an emotional investment. Ms. Lum said they should leave Rule 1.5 as is, then. Ms. Lum said she had questions about Rule 9 and the Board's responsibilities. The rule seems to mainly be about the Council and its members and when they should make disclosures. She asked what Rule 9 meant to the Board of Ethics. The Chair agreed that it did not seem to concern them. Mr. Ashida said there may have been a reason in the past why it was included, but it looked safe to remove it from the rules. The members continued to discuss Rules 9.1 and 9.2 and why they were included in their rules. Mr. Ashida said it may be safer to just leave them in. 7