Board of Ethics presents updated rules of procedure; council places revised document on file

Jim DeLine, chair of the City of Lansing Board of Ethics, told the Committee of the Whole on Sept. 8 that the board had updated its rules of procedure for the first time since 1996. DeLine said the packet in council members’ materials reflects corrections for typographical errors and several policy updates, notably replacing obsolete references to fax with “other form of approved electronic communications” and increasing the minimum notice to change a meeting from 18 hours to 24 hours.

DeLine also said the board changed its parliamentary authority from Mason’s Manual to Robert’s Rules of Order to align practice with how city boards and commissions conduct business. “We changed our rules of procedure. We go by Robert’s Rules of Order now instead of Mason’s,” DeLine said. He asked the council to place the amended rules on file.

Council members moved to “place on file the Board of Ethics rules of procedure.” The motion passed on a voice vote; no formal amendments were made during the Sept. 8 discussion. Placement on file means the revised rules will be available in city records and the board may proceed under the updated procedures; the rules will return to the council if additional action is required.

DeLine said the changes were intended to modernize the document and correct errors: “It said that we can notify members of a meeting, by by fax. Wow. You know? And so, of course, we changed that.” The board’s packet was the proposed version; the older 1996 text was not included in the packet for side-by-side comparison, DeLine said.