Standards would ban using public office for personal gain

The Longmont City Council gave initial approval to a code of ethics Tuesday — one that would hold them to high standards when it comes to things like conflicts of interest and favorable dealing.

While there is no specific suggestion that any member of the council has violated any ethical standards, codes of ethics for public bodies generally include conduct suggestions such as that government officials cannot use confidential information that they obtain in the course of their duties to further their own personal or financial interests.

Under the new Longmont code, officials also would not be allowed to receive “treatment or advantage … that is substantially different from that available to other persons,” according to a council memo.

The code of ethics applies to the mayor, council members and those who serve on the city’s various boards and commissions and allows Longmont residents to file complaints against any local government official through an online form. City officials, including the city attorney’s office, have worked on the code of ethics for more than a year. The council is expected to approve it at a second hearing scheduled for April 23.

In general, the new code would call for an independent hearing officer retained by the city to screen the complaints to see if any merit investigation and potential further action. Who will serve as the hearing officer has yet to be determined.

“We are one of the very, very few cities in Colorado that have never had a code of ethics,” Longmont Mayor Joan Peck, who has been a driving force behind the code of ethics, said in a separate interview Tuesday. “It’s time for

us to allow residents to be able to ask questions and complain about what they think might be something that is egregious.”

If a complaint warrants investigation, the hearing officer would have 45 days to make written recommendations to the City Council, the memo said.

The matter would go before the City Council for consideration, and the complainant and the subject of the complaint would have the opportunity to present facts. The City Council would then determine whether to adopt or modify the hearing officer’s “written interpretation and/ or recommendation as a final ethics opinion,” the memo said.

The council could take additional action such as issuing a reprimand, prohibiting the subject of the complaint from receiving future confidential information or removing a person from official duty.

“I know that it will be tweaked and edited as different councils come in (and) as we see what types of complaints are made,” Peck said of the code of ethics. “We don’t have anything really to work off of because we’ve never had a process.”

Cases that rise to potential criminal behavior would be forwarded to the police or the district attorney.