Town attorney briefs council on revised code of conduct; council narrows scope and requests edits

Town Attorney Mr. Rogers presented a redline revision of the town’s code of conduct and ethics at the Feb. 24 meeting, explaining four principal goals: narrow and clarify what qualifies as misconduct, add due-process timelines, reconsider a hearing-officer role in favor of council-led hearings, and modernize definitions. He said the draft requires verified complaints under oath and would give the council latitude to impose sanctions ranging from private reprimands to public censure; it also allows a special investigator to collect evidence when council determines allegations merit investigation.

Council members asked for several clarifications and edits: several asked for stronger protections for staff and to make public criticism of staff actionable misconduct; others cautioned against weaponizing the policy and urged a narrow definition focused on conflicts of interest and conduct while acting in an official capacity. The draft removes a built-in 5% financial-ownership threshold from older language and replaces it with a disclosure-first approach, letting the council judge the materiality of a financial interest.

Members also debated whether complaints should be permitted only by council members (i.e., a council-filtered approach) or accepted directly from members of the public; Mr. Rogers said the draft currently allows public verified complaints but can be revised if council prefers a different threshold. The council instructed the attorney to remove paragraphs 12 and 13 related to staff interactions (per direction in the meeting) and to consider folding a social-media policy into the code or making it a referenced separate policy.

No enforcement action was taken; Mr. Rogers will revise the draft for further discussion and return items on social media policy and staff conduct for council direction.