I am in favor of ethical behavior and feel all public servants should be held to a higher standard. The ethics policy, established in 1972, stated it was a minimum standard of behavior the People of Yorba Linda should expect from their elected officials, appointed officials and staff. It spoke to many of the same things the current policy addresses: conflict of interest, gifts, use of public property, and obligations to citizens, to name a few. I support ethical behavior but have philosophical and procedural differences with the new ordinance. Unfortunately, when this ordinance was proposed, the Majority Council would not allow votes on the separate sub-sections of the ethics code; it was an all or nothing approach. Since I had reservations about portions of the code, I could not vote for a law I believe to be flawed.
I view an ethics code as a living statement reflecting the values and direction of the Community. I would have preferred a process to include the community, staff, Commissioners and the Council to cooperatively develop an ethics code, rather than a dictate from Majority Council.
To view the new ethics ordinance, go to: http://www.ci.yorba-linda.ca.us/~ci26/images/stories/pdf/Clerk/Agendas/StaffReports9-30-09.pdf
Issues I had with the New Ethics Code by Subsection:
Section 2.44.010 No solicitations from City Contractors:
I agree, any contractor that the Council gives contract approval, should be exempt from solicitations. There is another level of contractors in the city that are hired through various City Department Heads, many of whom are YL residents. For example: those who teach parks and recreation classes or a hardware store owner from whom the City purchases supplies. These could be considered contractors and a council member could accidentally ask or accept a donation without knowing they had a relationship with the City at that level.
Section 2.44.020 Prohibitions against accepting campaign contributions for 12 months after approving a permit or decision.
I agree. This section deals with accepting donations, $250 or more from an applicant if a Council vote is taken on their project. BUT this prohibition did not include individuals who benefit from a “no vote” to a project. There is a potential to “buy” a vote from either direction. This Council did not want this included since two of them had accepted $1000 from an individual where their “no” vote favorably affected his position. Mayor Anderson returned his “donation” after holding onto it for two weeks and he is the author of this ethics policy.
Section 2.44.030 Disqualification from acting upon a permit or decision if a campaign contribution was accepted within a previous 12-month period.
I agree although a year is a long time to expect a decision to be affected by a $250 donation.
Section 2.44.040 Prohibitions against seeking endorsements from city employees, commissioners, labor associations affiliated with city contractors.
I agree, employees should be exempt from solicitation. I do not see the harm in asking a commissioner for endorsement as long as they do not feel coerced. I do not disagree with excluding labor associations from solicitation but I feel ALL labor associations should be excluded including Sheriffs, District Attorneys, etc.
Section 2.44.050 Adoption of a code of conduct for elected and appointed officials
I agree but it seems silly to pass a law that says we will do something in the future. This majority Council has broken many of their proposed conduct rules including: staff bashing, Consultant bashing, campaigning from the dais, disregarding public votes to fit their own political agendas, and the list goes on. We have had more staff quit because of this Councils behavior and yet it is not an infraction in their current new code.
Section 2.44.060 Adoption of a “Whistle blower” Policy
I think this was the ONE thing we should have done first and immediately. This would afford staff protection if they are asked by their supervisors or Council to do something they consider unethical. This would allow them to report the concern without fear of reprisals. Again, it seems silly to pass a law that says we will do something in the future. Why not now?
Section 2.44.070 Mandatory AB1234 training for all city staff, executives and appointed and elected officials
I agree with the state law of bi-annual training. I do not feel it is necessary to have all commissioners, Council members, Commissioners and staff take the training annually. In addition, I do not believe the Mayor has the authority to ask other Council members to notify them when they are doing the training independently. The Mayor runs the meeting and is the ceremonial figurehead for the Council but has no more or less power than any other elected Council member. We do not answer to each other, we answer to the People of Yorba Linda.
Section 2.44.080 Prohibition against closed door ad hoc committee meetings of the City council and Commissions
I agree as long as this does not violate personnel rules.
Section 2.44.090 Taping of all closed session meetings of the City Council
This section requires all closed sessions of the City Council to be taped. I disagree with this. This places the City in a vulnerable position when we discuss items regarding potential litigation. Our City Attorney has also us advised against adopting this provision. There are undefined thresholds that would allow the tapes to be released. Additionally, the tapes could be release with the vote of three Council members. Although the majority Council approved this ordinance, I believe the threshold to release the tapes should have been raised to a super-majority of four to avoid a simple majority council from acting inappropriately for political reasons rather than what is best for the Community.
Section 2.44.100 Prohibitions against the misuse of City Resources or staff involvement in elections
I agree. I have observed the Majority Council abusing this section by working around the ordinance.
Section 2.44.0110 Enforcement
With this ordinance, I feel it is easy to make a mistake and then be vilified for political purposes. Who is responsible to track and enforce this policy? What is the threshold of the infraction and what is the punishment? This is not defined. It has a weak enforcement statement about hiring special council and possibly referring infractions to the DA. Larger items, like misuse of City funds would already be corrected with our current laws.
I do believe in transparency and making sure the community is informed. What has been extremely frustrating is how this Council espouses transparency and then finds exceptions for their own behavior. I do not believe an ethical code makes you ethical. Either you are ethical or you are not and should be judged by your behavior.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
“I do not believe an ethical code makes you ethical. Either you are ethical or you are not and should be judged by your behavior.”
I say “AMEN’ to this observation ! I do however believe that an ‘ethical code of behavior and/or conduct’ by all elected City officials and City employees needs to be enacted, so there will be no misunderstandings in the future about these types of issues. I have read and understand your concerns with the current proposed ethics code. Do you propose to recommend amendments to the Code, at future City Council meetings or wait until there is a question about a violation of the code where ambiguity exists ? Have your current concerns with the ethics code been officially documented in minutes of meetings or other City documents, so they can be referred to, in the event your concerns come to fruition, over the course of time? I must say, I like your participation in City Council meetings. Thank you for your dedication and support to our City. Regards, Sam Eardley
Jan,
Thanks for taking the time to provide the information on this ordinance. You said “I cannot vote for a law that I believe to be flawed,” and I respect your stand. My question is, did you vote against it or did you decline to vote on the ordinance?
Respectfully,
Louise Macaulay
i voted no on the ordinance
Sam,
I did raise these concerns at the Council meetings while the ordinance was being enacted. The majority Council did not agree with my observations. They now want the community to vote on this ordinance to codify it. What that means it would take a vote of the people to make future modifications.
Be interesting to see what happens in November….Will the public who do not pay attention to the council behavior say….oh boy a ethics policy….that seems like a good idea and pass it….
Flawed is the ethics of the one who are presenting this to the public….the whole idea of this ethics policy is flawed…main problem problem the flawed individuals who will have the oversight and decision make power, probably to use the ethics policy…. as they will…mischief!
I will not vote for it.
in reference to the majority council breaking ethics rules. I’d like to know names to make sure they never get elected again. There are times where confidnetiality nees to be broken and “whistle blowing ” needs to be done.
As to the position of the mayor: I agree it is a minnstertial positon only and not one of a monarch. this is a similar position of a Superintendent of a school district. Ministerial in nature.. NOT EGO DRIVEN.
Thom, Do you believe it is ethical to take a sizable donation from a constituent after a Council person votes in a way that benefits that person? I don’t. Anderson took $1000 from a constituent after voting to stop a project that was behind this gentleman’s home. He kept the donation for 3 weeks in his bank account until he “decided” it did not look good. This is still permissable under Measure Y.
Do you think it is unethical for Council members to pressure the City Manager on who to hire for staff positions Council members have no purview over? I don’t. Anderson and Schwing have attempted this with City Manager’s Adams and Kelly.
Do you think it is ethical of a Council member to attend a commission meeting and berate City Staff and promise he has the votes to move forward with what he is proposing? I Don’t. Schwing did this and his votes are: Anderson and Rikel!
Yorba Linda needs to start paying attention. This election is a good example of how unethical and dishonest Anderson and Lindsey, both endorsed by Schwing, Rikel and YLRRR, are being. The hit pieces are inaccurate, inflammatory and self serving.