2009-12-09 Board of Ethics Minutes

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a. Further discussion on Mayor Kenoi's proposed amendments to the Ethics Code, and consideration of any other proposed amendments to the Ethics Code. Ms. Lum said that if they impose the restrictions as discussed earlier in Section 2 -85, then Section 2 -83 would stay basically the same, and the Mayor's proposed 2 -83(c) would not be included. Contracting restrictions would be under Contracts rather than under Fair Treatment. Ms. Nicholson suggested they continue discussing the Mayor's proposals before proceeding to their own proposals regarding the Ethics Code, since they wanted to provide a response to the Mayor by February. Ms. Schoen asked if she understood correctly that the Board wanted to allow employees to continue to contract with the County, but have controls in place regarding contracts that may be awarded within the department or as they would relate to employment, duties, or job descriptions. The Board members agreed. Ms. Schoen asked for clarification of what the Board wanted in Section 2 -85, as they mentioned both prohibiting bidding and prohibiting contracting, which are two different things. Ms. Gentry said they also wanted to mention somewhere that the spouse and children of an officer /employee should be able to contract with the County if it would not have any conflict with the officer /employee's employment. Spouse and children also have the right to make bids and be awarded contracts. There was discussion on whether prohibiting employees from bidding should be in the Conflicts of Interests section or Contracts section of the Code. Ms. Schoen said it was related to both sections but ultimately was part of Conflicts of Interests. Ms. Schoen said she would work on language and get it to the Board members the week before their next meeting, through email or regular mail. If they had comments or suggestions, they were to send them only to her, and not to each other. She said she would try to find time to look at how other jurisdictions handle issues as well. Counties in Hawaii do not have similar language. Ms. Schoen said she would also research the Board's concerns about interfering with the ability to contract. There is a balancing act between being too permissible and too prohibitive. The government needs to articulate the policy and provide legitimate reasons for prohibiting a contract. As several members had to leave, they continued the discussion to the January meeting. 8. ANNOUNCEMENTS The Chair announced the next meeting as being scheduled for January 13, 2010, at a location to be determined. 10