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South Burlington council adopts municipal code of ethics enforcement ordinance, repeals 2024 policy
Summary
The South Burlington City Council on Feb. 3 adopted a new code of ethics investigation and enforcement ordinance required by the state and repealed the city's 2024 conflict-of-interest policy; the vote was unanimous.
The South Burlington City Council on Feb. 3 adopted an ordinance establishing procedures for investigating municipal ethics complaints and enforcing the new municipal code adopted by the Vermont Legislature.
City Attorney Colin McNeil told the council the legislature's Act 171 required municipalities to adopt an ordinance providing complaint, investigation and enforcement procedures. McNeil said the draft before council had been published and posted since the first reading on Jan. 6.
Councilors voted unanimously to adopt the ordinance and to repeal the city's prior Conflict of Interest and Ethics Policy for elected and appointed officials that the council had adopted in March 2024.
McNeil recommended the repeal because the new municipal code and the city's adopted ordinance overlap and differ in places; adopting the ordinance and repealing the older policy avoids conflicting rules.
Councilors made the votes after opening and closing a public hearing with no public comments during the hearing.
The ordinance sets out a local mechanism for pursuing complaints under the statute the Legislature enacted last year; McNeil said the city's existing annual ethics policy was largely similar but required alignment with the new ordinance.
The votes were unanimous.
