Cuyahoga County inspector general delivers annual ethics training as council votes to enter executive session

Cuyahoga County Inspector General Alexa Bealer delivered the council's mandatory annual ethics training on May 27, outlining county and state standards for public contracts, recusals, gifts and reporting suspected violations as the Council first voted to move into an executive session on pending or imminent court action.

Bealer told the Committee of the Whole that Article 15 of the County Charter designates the Inspector General as the county’s chief ethics officer and that County Code Title 4 and the Ohio Revised Code provide the agency’s authority. “Article 15 was voted into the charter by the citizens,” she said, and added that the Inspector General’s office will provide guidance to officials who seek it.

The training emphasized that county resources—including staff time—may be used only for county purposes and that even seemingly minor personal uses are allowed only where expressly authorized by law, policy, as compensation, or are de minimis. Bealer said officials must disclose compensated secondary employment to the agency within 30 days of assuming the outside role and must…