The Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics received its 2025 annual report on Jan. 8, 2026, and approved routine meeting business including minutes from Dec. 4, 2025, and the consent agenda. Executive staff told commissioners the report marks the commission's 15th year and summarizes outreach, advisory work and complaint-handling metrics for the prior year.

"I am pleased to present the 2025 Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics annual report," the executive director said, describing the office's mission as "fostering integrity in public service, promoting the public's trust and preventing conflicts of interest." The office reported completing 600 voluntary customer satisfaction surveys tied to in-person trainings and noted a 4% increase in public awareness of the commission's mission.

The presentation listed program highlights from 2025: about 20 outreach events, a fifteenth-anniversary Palm Tran bus wrap, partnerships with county public affairs and Channel 20 programming, distribution of a pocket-sized ethics guide and three newsletters, and more than 31,000 page views to the commission's website. Staff said they issued 11 new advisory opinions in 2025 with an average turnaround of six days, conducted 46 in-person trainings, and handled dozens of guidance requests.

On enforcement work, the executive director reported staff processed 20 sworn pre-inquiry reviews and 20 sworn complaints in 2025. Of those, 10 were administratively dismissed for lack of legal sufficiency, five were dismissed with a finding of no probable cause, one was resolved with a letter of reprimand, two with letters of instruction, and two investigations remained ongoing. The office reported average completion times of 30 days for routine complaints and 113 days for complex matters.

Commissioner Romano raised a legal and public-accountability point, noting a recent state law change: "unless somebody complains, you can't investigate," he said, and asked whether staff could track matters the office was no longer allowed to pursue without a sworn complaint. The executive director said the office's pre-inquiry review process already records information that is not a sworn complaint and that staff will attempt to contact submitters and can track such matters going forward.

The presentation also cited compliance work: 15 re-training policy compliance reviews, more than 3,000 gift-disclosure forms reviewed (transcript figure unclear on the exact number), and 46 voting conflict forms processed to ensure transparency. Executive staff credited investigators Abigail Irizarry and Mark Higgs for timely investigations and praised the outreach team led by Liz Martin, Rhonda Geiger and Gina Levesque.

Commissioners praised the report and asked about plans for 2026 outreach. The executive director said the office will continue outreach events and expand education efforts in early 2026, leveraging its education and communications manager and timing training for months when attendance is highest.

The executive director gave several operational updates since the December meeting, including staff presence at a county job fair with more than 500 attendees, additional trainings for local advisory boards, and attendance at a COGO conference to study new training and online-learning approaches. The office also reported that Mr. Book filed a reply in an appeal and the commission is awaiting a decision from the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit.

No public-comment cards were received. The commission adjourned and reconvened at 2:00 p.m. to sit as the Inspector General Committee, as scheduled.