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Committee forwards Code of Ethics changes to expand board and standardize neutrality rules
Summary
The ordinance committee unanimously forwarded several Code of Ethics amendments (Chapter 32, §§1, 3 and 12) to the full council, including changing references to 'City Council,' removing alternate-member language, increasing the board to nine members to avoid burnout and harmonizing party-balance language for hearing and investigating panels. A public commenter urged additional outreach and training to recruit volunteers.
The Ordinance Committee on May 19 forwarded a package of Code of Ethics amendments to the full City Council that would rework membership and neutrality rules for the Board of Ethics.
The changes discussed include renaming references from "Common Council" to "City Council," removing language about alternates and increasing the recommended board membership from five members plus alternates to nine regular members, and aligning language in §32-3 so that both the hearing board and the investigating panel carry the same standard limiting members of the same political party.
One public commenter, Diane Lorecella, told the committee she supports expanding the board but urged greater public outreach and a seminar to help residents and officials understand ethics standards and recruit qualified volunteers. City staff and committee members said the larger board aims to reduce volunteer burnout and ensure quorums, and the proposed party-balance language (three Republicans, three Democrats, three unaffiliated) is intended to preserve neutrality on ethics panels. The committee voted unanimously to forward the Code of Ethics package to the full council for final action.
