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Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics approves minutes and consent agenda; staff seeks ordinance review
Summary
At its Feb. 6 meeting the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics approved minutes from Jan. 9 (with an amendment), approved the consent agenda, and the executive director reported upcoming trainings, outreach and a request to the Board of County Commissioners to open an ordinance review committee in light of recently passed legislation.
The Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics on Feb. 6 approved minutes from its Jan. 9 meeting as amended and approved the meeting’s consent agenda. Staff said it will ask the Board of County Commissioners to open an ordinance review committee so the commission can update its ordinance to align with recently passed legislation.
The amendment to the Jan. 9 minutes was proposed during roll call when a commissioner said they had been present at the January meeting despite an earlier roll-call entry. “I was not present for the roll call, but I did show up at the January meeting. … I would move to approve them as amended,” the commissioner said. The commission then voted to approve the minutes with that amendment.
Why it matters: the commission’s request to county administration to ask the BCC to open an ordinance review committee is intended to allow changes to the county’s ethics ordinance to reflect statutory changes enacted last year; the executive director said staff plans to pursue that request in the county’s second quarter. The commission’s ability to recommend ordinance revisions depends on the BCC opening the review committee.
At the meeting the executive director summarized recent and upcoming outreach: staff provided ethics training to the city of Riviera Beach in January and has three additional Riviera Beach trainings scheduled in February, along with several outreach events. The director also said the commission will be among recipients of a proclamation the Board of County Commissioners will present on March 11 declaring March as Ethics Awareness Month; the proclamation will name the Commission on Ethics, the Office of Inspector General, the FAU Ethics Academy and the State Attorney’s Office as honorees.
The commission noted housekeeping for its next meeting: on March 6 it will elect new chairs and vice chairs; the executive director also asked commissioners to attend, and indicated the commission would take group photos that month.
Votes at a glance: - Approval of Jan. 9 minutes as amended — motion carried (vote tallies not specified in the record). - Approval of consent agenda — motion carried (vote tallies not specified in the record).
The meeting included a standard roll call, the Pledge of Allegiance and brief introductory remarks; no other substantive public comments or contested items were recorded. The meeting adjourned after executive director remarks.
