Loveland city attorney backs in‑house ethics process, council and residents urge safeguards

City Attorney Vince Jungles and project advisor Matt Hader walked Loveland City Council through a draft set of consolidated ethics regulations Tuesday that would assemble scattered conflict‑of‑interest and conduct provisions into new chapters of the municipal code and give the City Attorney's Office primary responsibility for issuing advisory opinions and screening complaints.

Jungles told council the draft replaces an earlier proposal for an independent ethics authority with an in‑house model "so the city attorney could take on the role" of initial screening and advisory opinions. Under the draft, complaints must be filed with a named complainant, affirmed under penalty of perjury, and would be screened on at least a dozen grounds; if a complaint survives screening, the City Attorney could pursue an investigation through retained special counsel and then submit a confidential report to council for a decision on whether to proceed to a public hearing.

The draft also sets…