County ethics official briefs Jupiter council; mayor raises need to clarify ethics rules for contractors

Gina Levesque, Intake and Compliance Manager for the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics, told the Jupiter Town Council on May 6 that the commission focuses on prevention as well as enforcement and provides advisory opinions, training, and public resources to promote integrity in public service.

Levesque described the commission's independence, its authority to issue advisory opinions, and its role in educating more than 12,000 public officials, employees and advisory board members across Palm Beach County. She also noted the commission can impose penalties, including fines, but that its primary goal is prevention through training and guidance.

Later in the meeting Mayor Jim Kuretsky reported he had followed up on questions raised during public comment and said the county code of ethics contains an exclusion that treats some government-related entities differently than private contractors. The mayor said that practice and certain advisory opinions have created confusion when a town or county contractor is involved, and he said the issue merits further review to determine whether code language or opinion-letter practice should be changed.

Levesque pointed attendees to public resources including advisory opinions, gift forms, and voting conflict forms available on the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics website and encouraged officials to “ask first, act later” when they have questions about conflicts.

The council did not vote on any changes to the county code during the meeting; the mayor said he is initiating conversations about potential clarifications and, if necessary, changes either at the county level or through a town-level code of ethics that could be more stringent than the county standard.