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Council to revisit city code of conduct ordinance after split on penalties
Summary
Council members agreed to place an ordinance creating a city code of conduct (Lincoln City Code 1-6-10) on the regular agenda as drafted in October but discussed removing monetary fines; attorneys warned the proposal could be confused with the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act.
The Committee of the Whole on May 27 considered an ordinance that would add section 1-6-10 to the Lincoln City Code to establish a code of conduct. The item originated from an October draft; sponsors said they are willing to remove fines to secure broader council support.
One sponsor said the issue has generated notable public attention. "People in the city have watched that meeting a lot, and they talk about it a lot that we as a council could not even pass an ethics for ourselves," the councilmember said, urging the council to adopt a code in some form. Another council member suggested adding more specific decorum language to make enforcement easier.
The city attorney cautioned that the proposed local ethics/ethics-commission language could be confused with the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, which addresses gifts and political activity and provides for a state-level ethics commission. "The ethics commission is solely geared towards looking at those gift related issues and political campaigning related issues, not what we talked about back in October," the attorney said.
Council members agreed to place the October version of the ordinance on the regular agenda as a starting point, with the understanding they may modify or table it after further review and input. The council directed staff to circulate the draft and to consider additional, more specific decorum language for enforcement.
