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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-23-19 DRAFT MINUTES - Board of Ethics MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ETHICS BOZEMAN, MT Tuesday, July 23, 2019 The Board of Ethics of the City of Bozeman met in the Gallatin Room, City Hall at 121 N. Rouse on Tuesday, July 23, 2019. Present were: Melissa Frost, Carson Taylor, City Manager Andrea Surratt, Karen Stambaugh, Robin Crough and Julie Hunter (Mary Jane McGarity was not present) 1. Meeting Called to Order Chairperson Melissa Frost called the meeting to order at 3:48PM 2. Changes to the Agenda Melissa Frost asked for changes to the Agenda. There were none 3. Public Comment Melissa Frost opened public comment. There was none 4. Approval of Minutes Board had not yet reviewed minutes, so they will be moved to the next regular meeting of the Board for approval at that time. 5. Action Items a. Disclosure of information or comments received Karen Stambaugh has fielded brief questions over the course of the last year. i. Informal ethics questions: incoming board member asking about personal political activities, Board Members and officials don’t lose their rights of free speech because they join a board ii. Board member social media posts and propriety, needs to get back to this person iii. Received request for a formal written opinion from City Attorney, question regarding an employee starting their own business Carson had communication regarding city Ethics, asking for resources, plans, etc. they may adopt. Will have coffee with individual to give ideas and walk through ethical related issues. City/County Board of Health. b. City Attorney Update Worked with RPAB about being a board involved with educating about P&TD, use of public resources, conduct, talking with employees about the line between education and advocacy, Karen brought in the AG opinion and shared it with BOE c. Financial Disclosure Form discussion (Crough) – There was discussion of which boards fall under purview, need to file. (Melissa has memo from 2009 and will get to Robin for the record) There is inconsistency in which Boards are incorporated in. Robin is looking for direction for her office as to which Boards need to file. Board reviewed hard copies of Financial Disclosure Form. URD Boards, BID Boards would be helpful. Advisory Boards typically make no financial decisions. Carson recalled past pushback from Board members not wanting to disclose financial info. He thinks that time was when non-financial Boards were exempt from FDF. Carson moved that the BOE recommend the Library Board, Parking Comm., All BID, all URD Boards be required to complete annually the FDF and direct staff to make it happen. Discussion: these are the key boards for which we need FDFs- they make decisions and recommendations of financial nature. All In favor: 2 aye, 0 nay d. Discussion and/or decisions regarding Ethics Training - City Manager Andrea Surratt reviewed Ethics Training timeline and process taking place this year. She emphasized taking training into employee teams to have better conversations. This year’s training is on time, in the correct timeline. Trainers may be staff members, not just supervisors. Trainings will be embedded into regular meetings. Trainings expected to be an hour in duration. Each Board of Ethics member to review remained of curriculum and continue at next meeting. Questions: Melissa- if we attend, what is our role? (Andrea: attend Training, then be an observer at any subsequent trainings. Trainers shouldn’t defer to BOE members) Julie will send dates for an addition special meeting of the Board of Ethics to approve the Ethics Curriculum. 6. FYI/Discussion a. Carson: In Ethics Question 1, add that it is a City Vehicle. Add the following to notes to stimulate further discussion: What if the employee offered to reimburse City for gas/use? Carson will come up with further recommendations to be reviewed at the next meeting. b. Melissa: Need bios updated in website, update website overall c. Melissa asked about staggered terms, Both MJ and Melissa’s terms are expiring shortly. How did terms overlap the way they did? Robin explained how terms may have overlapped. Karen added: We are on a regular staggering schedule. d. Carson suggested he invite all City Commission candidates to his home and make it a neighborhood party where they can mingle and hand out literature, so he is not endorsing any particular candidate. Karen said issues would only come up later if there was a complaint, whether he needed to recuse himself as a member of BOE. Currently two commission candidates have quotes from Carson on their websites. 7. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 5:07 PM.