Chesapeake Beach ethics commission advances plan to narrow who must file financial disclosures

The Chesapeake Beach Ethics Commission on a rescheduled meeting discussed proposed revisions to the town's ethics ordinance, focused on narrowing which town officials, employees and volunteers must file financial-disclosure statements and agreed on a timeline for drafting and review.

The matter matters because the changes would determine which officials must file annual disclosures, shape public education about the ordinance and affect how the town documents and enforces conflict-of-interest rules.

Commission members reported recent corrections to the town's public-disclosure filings and discussed whether to pursue a correction for a former council member who has moved away. The commission also said the mayor has proposed appointing Fred Sussman as counsel to the commission; members discussed that any engagement would likely be a contract between Sussman's firm and the town and that formal terms remain under negotiation. "He would be glad to accept," the…