I know I have talked about this previously, but I still am against it;
The group also issues opinions known as “advisory opinions.†Currently, members of the general public can ask the board to issue an advisory opinion.
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But city councilors say advisory opinions should be limited to a city official asking for guidance from the board about whether a situation might constitute a conflict of interest.
Why?! Seriously! We pay your friggin’ wages and elect you, if ANYBODY should be able to ask for an ADVISORY opinion, it should be citizens! And since when is it ETHICAL to vote on your own Code of Ethics?
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(Ethics) Board members worry the general public will be cut out of the process if they are no longer to ask for advisory opinions.
Seems pretty obvious to me. Pretty sad that the VOLUNTEER Board of Ethics has to stand up for the citizens against the council.
But councilors counter that members can still file a complaint with the board if they feel an official has acted unethically.
And this is the biggest problem I have with the code change. If we ask for an opinion FIRST it could prevent a council member from having a conflict – in other words avoiding misconduct and a complaint all together, hindsight is 50/50. I just don’t believe that the council is very good at policing themselves, shit, half of them watch TV during the council meetings, and we are suppose to trust they know better when it comes to ‘conflicts of interest’.
Give me a break!
Half of them sit on the council because it benefits there personal business and agenda.