2008-06-25 Board of Ethics Minutes Regular Session

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CHAIR: - -file- LUM: - -okay, I move that we accept and file Communication 2008 -53. NICHOLSON: I'll second. CHAIR: Okay, any further discussion? All in favor signify with saying aye. CHAIR, LUM and NICHOLSON (simultaneously): Aye. CHAIR: Okay, moving to new business. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Petition No. 2008 -5: From Councilmember Bob Jacobson, requesting an opinion on the use of his photograph on his Council stationery letterhead. JACOBSON: First off, I'm Bob Jacobson, councilmember for district six. Thanks so much for considering this request. I think that my letter is sort of clear, but I did want to just go into some of my reasoning or else if you had questions —how would you like to proceed? CHAIR: I guess you can start by giving us you know, your version and what is behind all this. JACOBSON: Okay great. Because I actually travel and look at a lot of things -1'm in the National Association of Counties and I have contact with about eighty percent of the counties across the United States, I see all kinds of different written materials and different approaches to trying to be accessible in government. So what I look at was actually —I saw some really nice stuff from California on a councilmember, I forget the city, but he had his photograph just as —I think you've got an exemplar. I have my own color printer that I paid for. But in general it's the idea of whether it is right or wrong, and I did review your opinion regarding the ads and the names and faces, and being in the ads so I'm acquainted with some of your reasoning there. In part, I see that there's a number of other items that come out regularly from the County. This is the latest one 1 saw (hands the Board a pamphlet with the Mayor's picture on it). It's not entirely unusual to have faces of elected officials, including this one is the Mayor on a pro- incineration piece that was passed out for the better part of the year or year and a half. But I'm not going to say that because the Mayor did it its okay. That's why I thought I'd come talk to you guys beforehand. I like the idea of when I'm giving testimony at the legislature— that's where I thought it was most important is that quite frequently during the legislative session 1 submit quite a bit of written testimony, and when somebody sees my face on the letter they are going to more likely associate it with me rather than just apiece of paper. I mean I sit in your desk there and see hundreds and hundreds of pieces of paper during any given meeting, but if I see a face I kind of go, oh maybe I can relate to this a little bit better. So that's in part of it. Also, its more modern standards —I should also bring business cards into this because if you go around and you get business cards from people, I'm sure you will see that many people have their face on a business card and I would like you to consider that aspect of part of this request. Not that I'm in a hurry to do it, but it would be nice to settle it so that if other people want to put their names on 6