County to require annual conflict-of-interest disclosures for boards and commissions

County staff presented a draft conflict-of-interest policy June 17 that would expand disclosure practices for supervisors, staff who support boards and commissions, and appointed board and commission members.

The policy proposal includes an annual electronic disclosure form that would ask three basic questions intended to identify potential conflicts: ownership in a business, service on an outside board and similar relationships. "Do you have ownership in business? Do you serve on a board?" a presenter read as examples of the annual questions in the form. HR staff said the program would be managed centrally, likely using DocuSign, and that the first-year rollout could be messy as the county identifies roughly 250 board and commission members who must be contacted.

Staff discussed timing: the plan is to do an initial disclosure at appointment and then adopt a calendar-year annual process (likely January each year). Departments that staff boards and commissions were asked to prepare to assist with outreach and to expect questions from members. The draft policy will be presented formally to the Board of Supervisors for approval within the next one to two weeks, after which HR will begin sending forms.

Next steps: HR will finalize the form, coordinate with the county attorney on any questions that arise, leverage DocuSign for signatures, and initiate outreach after formal board approval.