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Residents urge outside investigations; council discusses drafting investigation ordinance and clarifying role of proposed ethics board
Summary
Public commenters told the council investigations under charter section 3.11 should be handled by outside agencies; councilmembers discussed a draft investigation ordinance, legal feedback, and how the council’s investigatory authority would relate to a future Board of Ethics.
Two members of the public used the Jan. 8 public‑comment period to urge caution about any ordinance that would permit the council to conduct investigations of city officials or employees, saying investigations should be conducted by outside, trained investigators to avoid conflicts of interest.
Ronald Ray, speaking during public comments, said the intent of investigators in the charter was not to give council the power to investigate itself and warned that internal investigations conducted by council members would be “like putting the fox in the hen house.”
Brian Rivera, who identified himself as a former member of the charter commission and of local review commissions, echoed that concern and said the charter commissioners did not intend for the council to investigate itself; Rivera recommended the council use outside investigators or an RFQ process to retain qualified third parties when investigations are needed.
Later in the meeting councilmember Ashley introduced an agenda item to draft an ordinance implementing charter section 3.11 (investigations). Ashley said the intent is to build checks and balances and that any investigation would require a full‑council vote before being authorized. The member said staff and the city attorney supplied model language and that council would refine that text before a formal vote.
Council and the city attorney discussed how an investigations ordinance should be structured to avoid overlap with a separate Board of Ethics the charter requires. City attorneys advised drafting language that would allow the council to obtain outside investigatory services where appropriate and to exclude matters squarely covered by the ethics board (for example, conflict‑of‑interest and financial‑disclosure issues assigned by the charter to that body).
Councilmembers requested a blended approach: preserve the council’s authority to pursue investigations under the charter while specifying when outside investigators or other agencies (for example, law enforcement or state investigators) should be retained. Council did not vote on an ordinance; members asked the drafter to blend the council’s draft and the city‑attorney suggestions and to circulate a revision to staff and council ahead of the next meeting for consideration.
