Colmar Manor council approves revised financial disclosure form ahead of special election

The Colmar Manor Ethics Commission presented a substantially revised financial disclosure statement at the Feb. 16 meeting and the council approved the form the same evening after adding the item to the agenda.

Lauren Wagner, chair of the Ethics Commission, walked council members through the instructions and the proposed schedules that the town code requires. "You probably picked up the instruction and the forms. You probably picked up the instruction and the forms for the new proposed financial disclosure statement," Wagner said, noting the packet includes many schedules (A–J) but that most citizens would mark "no" for many sections. She advised that if an answer is unknown, filers may enter "unknown." "It's also acceptable to not know. So if the answer is unknown, just fill in unknown," Wagner said.

Council members discussed whether to approve the form at the meeting or defer to a work session; because the election calendar is time sensitive the council voted to add the item to the agenda and then approved the revised disclosure by voice vote. The Ethics Commission and town staff agreed to make the approved form and instructions available online and at town hall for candidates and filers.

Practical note for candidates: if someone files using the old form, the Board of Elections agreed to provide a short grace period to submit the updated form so filings are not invalidated if the new form was not immediately available.

The council's approval ensures that candidates for the upcoming special election and other filers will use the updated statements aligned with Town Code Chapter 25.