Ethics and Conduct Review Board appoints subcommittee to review Santa Fe ethics code

The Ethics and Conduct Review Board voted to create a three-member subcommittee to review Santa Fe’s municipal ethics code and consider recommending ordinance changes to the City Council.

Board Member Terry introduced the proposal, saying, “I would like to suggest that we, have a subcommittee take a look at the city's ethics code and, maybe compare it to some of these other ones that I actually have in my files.” Terry said he has taught public ethics through New Mexico State University’s outreach program and has collected county and city codes to use as comparisons.

The board discussed several areas of concern raised by Terry: the city code’s relative brevity, potential gaps in definitions and enforcement, and limits on state oversight under the Governmental Conduct Act. Terry said the most recent edits to the code were in February 2016 and noted that some state statutes referenced in conversation—including a longstanding nepotism statute—appear out of date (he cited an exemption for positions paying less than $600 per year as an example).

Board members noted specific procedural references in the city code. The board discussed that enforcement language in section 1.79(e) mentions the possible establishment of an Office of Inspector General and that complaints tied to the ethics code would use the board’s complaints procedures under section 6-16.3. Board Member Terry and staff also mentioned the Open Meetings Act while discussing how a subcommittee of fewer than a quorum could meet and circulate materials without triggering required public meeting notices.

Board Member Bridal moved to appoint the subcommittee; Board Member Amer seconded. The roll call recorded affirmative votes from Member Amer and Member Brennan, and Member Sullivan also said “Aye”; the motion passed. The board did not enact ordinance changes at the meeting; the approved action was formation of the reviewing subcommittee.

Terry volunteered to chair the subcommittee and said he would share links and examples of codes from other New Mexico local governments (he mentioned Valencia County and Torrance County among those he planned to provide). Board members agreed to keep the subcommittee to three members so it would not constitute a quorum and would therefore be able to meet without the full-board public-notice requirements. Board staff said the board had received an inquiry but no formal complaint on the city form yet; staff said, “We received a call, but we haven't received any, form, of a complaint,” and that the board would schedule prompt meetings if a formal complaint arrived.

Next steps as described by the board: the chair and subcommittee members will review other jurisdictions’ codes and compare definitions, enforcement mechanisms, and complaint procedures; the panel may draft recommended ordinance language or amendments for the City Council to consider. The board indicated there is no immediate deadline and that the review could proceed over the coming months.

The board’s action preserves the distinction between discussion, direction and formal action: the meeting record shows discussion of legal authorities and procedural gaps, a directive to form a subcommittee, and a formal vote to appoint that subcommittee; no change to the city’s ordinance was adopted at the meeting.