Politics & Government
Aberdeen Passes Ethics Ordinance
Mayor Michael Bennett and the City Council unanimously passed an ordinance covering ethics guidelines at Monday's meeting.
The Aberdeen City Council concluded its work on the Public Ethics Ordinance during in Aberdeen. The council made some final adjustments before approving the ordinance and finalizing the establishment of an ethics commission.
The ethics commission will consist of five members, who are to be appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the council. The newly revised ordinance features new details dealing with conflicts of interests and financial disclosures. The amendments were presented during the meeting by City Manager Doug Miller.
“We are redoing our ethics structure partly because of a state department request to do so,” Miller said. “But I will say that this body, before the requirement was even made, was trying to modernize our ethics chapter.”
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In the section dealing directly with conflicts of interest, the ordinance states that officials may not participate in matters in which they have a specific interest. This includes participating in events with businesses the official has a connection with.
Dealing directly with contributions and gifts, the ordinance read that an “official could not solicit any gift of significant value that would give the appearance of impairing the impartiality and independence of judgment of the official.” The line was amended to say they could not solicit a gift of a significant value, or if the gift is of $100 of more.
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“We talk about significant value, but that is a relative term,” Miller said. “So we set a number, but it also keeps the other language open.”
Furthermore, the proposed amendments also stated that elected officials must file an annual financial disclosure form no later than Jan. 31. The form must detail all gifts that the official received from anyone that contracts with or is regulated by the city during the previous calendar year.
The proposed amendments were passed without any objections by all four council members and by Mayor Michael Bennett.
“I am delighted that we are working on this,” said Councilwoman Ruth Ann Young. “I have been thinking along this line for quite a long while and I am glad that we are able to get to the point where we can move on.”