Ethics commission says councilor may accept $5,000 small-business grant but must recuse from related votes

The Ethics Commission unanimously advised that a city councilor may receive a small-business grant to help outfit a studio at a west-end storefront, but the commission said the councilor must recuse from any matters that involve the Economic and Community Development Commission or the grant process.

The commission returned from an executive session and the chair said, "Basically, we're in agreement that the grant should be granted." The advisory opinion will be drafted in the coming weeks and filed with the town clerk's office, the chair added.

The request stemmed from a referral: a member who chairs the Economic and Community Development Commission told the ethics panel they had referred the applicant to a landlord that owns several downtown properties and that the referral might create a perception problem. "I did wanna bring before the ethics commission because I didn't want it to reflect badly on him, on the city's economic development commission, or the grant process," the commission member said, describing outreach to a tenant and the landlord's use of façade and small-business grant programs.

The applicant described the proposed work as installing a glass interior partition to divide studio space in the former Novak's Pharmacy storefront on the west end. The applicant said the $5,000 grant is partial—the applicant will cover most of the remaining cost and estimated a required cost share of about $1,900.

During deliberations commissioners discussed the fund behind the program. One commissioner said the economic development fund originated during a local growth period and was seeded nearly $1,000,000 decades ago; the large development grant still has about $120,000 remaining, with smaller pots carved out for façade and small-business grants.

After returning to the record, the commission said there is "nothing in the code of ethics that prevents a city employee or any government employee from accepting a grant," but that because the councilor has a connection to the referral and to the Economic and Community Development Commission he should not participate in votes or deliberations involving that commission or the grant process. The chair said staff would draft the written opinion and file it with the clerk; staff also agreed to notify corporation counsel.

The commission also approved routine items on the agenda—including approving minutes from the prior meeting, cancelling the April meeting, and adjourning—by voice vote. Individual roll-call tallies were not provided in the record; votes were recorded by voice.