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Tallahassee ethics board approves amended ordinance language, will forward draft to City Commission
Summary
The City of Tallahassee Independent Ethics Board voted June 17 to approve a revised advisory opinion and ordinance language that expands who is covered by certain conflicts provisions and clarifies outside-employment language; the board will send the draft to the City Commission and may return with alternate versions after review.
The City of Tallahassee Independent Ethics Board on June 17 approved a revised draft opinion and ordinance language that adds “covered individuals” to several conflict-of-interest provisions, clarifies exemptions and references city policy on outside employment, and will be forwarded to the City Commission for consideration. The board approved the draft by voice vote after discussion and directed staff to consult with the city attorney and potentially return with alternate versions that include additional exemptions.
Board members and legal advisers said the changes are intended to make the local code consistent and easier to apply. The draft replaces an obsolete reference to both an inspector general and city auditor title, expands the code so that the same exemptions that apply to employees also apply to the broader class of covered individuals, and explicitly adds a spouse-or-child carve-out in several exemption lines. The draft also adds language to make clear the ordinance is not intended to prohibit all outside employment and cross-references existing city policies and approval requirements.
The board spent much of the meeting debating whether to explicitly incorporate two state-level exemptions: the so-called equitable exemption in Florida Statutes chapter 112 (discussed in the meeting as 112.316) and an exemption that applies to nonprofit employees (referenced in the meeting as a provision of 112.313). Some board members urged that those exemptions be included or at least addressed in the administrative procedures so staff and appointed board members could be trained on how the exemptions are applied in practice. Board counsel said the ordinance can proceed without a final form or administrative procedure because the City Commission may ask for additional changes; procedures and a waiver form can be adopted later if the commission approves the ordinance.
The board also discussed a procedural mechanism used by the Florida Commission on Ethics for waivers granted to appointed board members and whether the city should provide a standard form to guide disclosures before a two-thirds waiver vote. Members agreed the city’s administrative procedures could include that form and training, and that the ordinance itself need not contain the procedural form.
Next steps: the board approved the draft opinion as modified and will forward the language to the City Commission for consideration. Members asked staff to consult further with the city attorney about whether to offer alternate versions that explicitly incorporate the state exemptions before the commission acts. No substantive motion to postpone or amend the approved text was recorded during the vote.
Background: board members noted similar language has been debated historically and that the local code is intentionally more stringent in some respects than state law. The board emphasized it will continue to refine implementing procedures and training if the City Commission adopts the ordinance.
