Ethics committee debate continues
The Longmont City Council may turn to a single person to handle ethical complaints lodged at city officials instead of a multi-member ethics committee.
During the City Council’s presession Tuesday, Mayor Pro Tem Aren Rodriguez floated the idea of utilizing a former federal agent, detective or hearing officer to investigate possible ethical breaches.
Longmont has 22 citizenbased boards, committees and commissions that approximately 170 citizens serve on, according to the city’s website. Volunteer boards and committees often make recommendations to the Council, which is the final decision-maker.
While such a chain of command may work well for the city’s Library Board, Historic Preservation Commission and other public bodies, it could pose problems for an ethics committee tasked with investigating potential wrongdoing by a council member or members.
“Being a self-policing body is not particularly useful,” Rodriguez said.
In January, Longmont Mayor Joan Peck requested that the Council, at a later date, discuss possibly forming an ethics committee, to which the Council unanimously agreed. A subsequent discussion unfolded during a Council study session on Feb. 7 and grew contentious. At the time, Councilman Tim Waters expressed frustration that Peck brought up the idea of an ethics committee without offering any explanation as to why. By doing so, Waters thought Peck cast a shadow of wrongdoing over the entire Council.
Peck later made clear that she was not trying to implicate anyone on the current Council.
Although Tuesday’s pre-session was more cordial, by the time it was over, several questions remained unanswered such as who would serve on the ethics committee, how often would it meet and whether it was even necessary at all?
“We still, as a council, need to discuss the purpose and make sure we have a clear understanding of what is the purpose of the ethics committee,” Councilwoman Shiquita Yarbrough said. “I think that is number one.”
Councilman Sean Mccoy
also advocated for annual training for council members about their roles and responsibilities as local officials.
“How often would we use it?” Mccoy said of an ethics committee. “That’s my biggest worry. … How often would we use it?”
Fort Collins and Colorado Springs already have ethics boards and commissions intact to review potential conflicts of interest or other violations that may arise involving council members.
Tuesday’s pre-session was intended to be an informal conversation among council members. A final decision concerning whether or not an ethics committee should be formed was not made.
“I think having a council person accuse another council person without any way to have a discussion from the accused is wrong,” Peck said. “It is just wrong.”