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Council advances ethics-ordinance amendment after debate over whistleblower language
Summary
Council approved a second-reading amendment to the city standards-of-conduct ordinance while debating whether to add explicit whistleblower and First Amendment language and whether vendors/contractors should be barred from the proposed Board of Ethics; administration said state and federal law already provide protections and HR will distribute employee materials.
Taylor City Council advanced a long-planned update to Chapter 2 of the city code governing standards of conduct, approving the ordinance on its second reading after a detailed debate over whistleblower protections and board membership rules.
Councilwoman (speaker 3) urged the council to add explicit language preserving whistleblower and First Amendment protections. She proposed wording that ‘‘nothing in this ordinance shall interfere with the rights or protections conferred by various state and federal whistleblower laws’’ and said including it would reassure less-knowledgeable employees. Mayor (speaker 6) and administration lawyers said Michigan and federal law already provide strong protections and that restating them in the ordinance was not strictly necessary; the mayor added HR would prepare a pamphlet or employee handbook to ensure staff know their rights.
Councilmembers also discussed whether vendors, contractors and immediate family members should be barred from serving on a proposed Board of Ethics. Planning and council staff noted exclusions could be revisited once the board is reconstructed; the administration recommended getting the board functioning and then soliciting its feedback. The council voted to adopt the amendments as presented and instructed HR to develop employee materials explaining legal protections and the ethics ordinance.
The change was framed as a limited revision intended to keep the ordinance concise while allowing administrative follow-up; councilmembers agreed to revisit more substantive edits after the new board reviews bylaws and proposed language.
