Jackson City audit committee weighs anonymous ethics complaints, recommends ordinance review

The Jackson City Audit Committee on an unspecified date discussed restoring an anonymous reporting option for ethics-related complaints and asked the city attorney to draft ordinance language for committee review.

Committee Chair Robinson opened the discussion by noting that the audit work group had circulated an anonymous complaint form and employee complaint form and that members remained concerned about the lack of support for anonymous submissions and about how people named in complaints are notified. Theresa, the city attorney, told the committee the city’s ethics ordinance “directly mimics the state law” and therefore currently does not include grandchildren or other expanded definitions the committee had asked about. She said she has drafted ordinance language to add the grandchildren provision and is prepared to return a draft to the committee for a vote.

Why it matters: Committee members said the current process — which requires notarized, named complaints under the ordinance — may be suppressing legitimate reports. Committee members discussed two goals: (1) ensure…