Ethics Commission

Approved Minutes City of College Park Ethics Commission Meeting Agenda Wednesday, March 9, 2016 7:00 p.m. Lower Level Conference Room – City Hall Members Present Absent Gail Kushner __X___ ______ Nora Eidelman __X___ ______ Frank Rose __X___ ______ Alan Bradford __X___ ______ Robert Thurston __X___ ______ James Sauer __X___ ______ Joseph Theis __X___ ______ Also Present: Kenneth Sigman, Ethics Counsel; Mayor Wojahn; Julie Beavers, Recording Secretary 1. Call meeting to order The meeting was called to order at 7:11 p.m. 2. Welcome new members Nora Eidelman lives in District One and moved to College Park in 2014. The commission introduced themselves as well. 3. Swearing in of Robert Thurston and Frank Rose The Council reappointed Mr. Thurston and Mr. Rose to the Ethics Commission and Mayor Wojahn swore them into the Commission. 4. Meet with Mayor Wojahn Mr. Wojahn thanked the Commission for their service to the community. 5. Discuss pending State Ethics Legislation One Bill that was discussed through the State was for each Commissioner to have an official email account and then required to retain all emails which never passed. The Bill that will mostly like pass which will not have a lot of impact for the College Park Ethics Commission is if they want to deviate from the State Law then they will have to go through a procedure with the State’s Ethics Commission to have it approved.  6. Discuss recommended amendment of the College Park Ethics Chapter Definition of ‘immediate family member’ needs to be added in the College Park Code since the term is used in the disclosure forms. Mr. Theis motioned to define Immediate Family Member. Mr. Saur SAUER seconded the motion. All were in favor. The motion passed 7-0-0 7. Election of a Chair Mr. Bradford nominated Mr. Theis. Mr. Saur SAUER seconded the motion. Mr. Theis accepted the nomination. No other nominations. All were in favor. The motion passed 6-0-1 (Mr. Theis Abstained) 8. Approval of September 21, 2015 Minutes Mr. Thurston motioned to approve as submitted. Mr. Theis seconded the motion. All were in favor. The motion passed 7-0-0 9. Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement/Letter  FDS Form #1 for Elected Officials Edits- 2015 in the bottom paragraph  FDS Instruction Sheet – Mayor and Council The council will get the correct forms this year  List of all City Employees to Receive FDS Form #3 and #4 There is a list of City Employees who are required to file the Financial Disclosure Forms which was discussed years ago. There are names that are crossed out because they are not required to complete the form. 10. Comments from Commissioners The Commission discussed having a workshop on definitions for the Ethics Commissioners to understand the language of the code. It will be a 3 hour session with an overview of the Code and to answer questions about the Financial Disclosure Form. The Commission is interested in some training to understand the Code and to better answer questions from City Employees. At the next meeting the Commission will review the FDS which are due April 30 th and will learn as they go through each form. 11. Adjourn Mr. Saur SAUER motioned to adjourn. Mr. Bradford seconded the motion. All were in favor. The motion passed 7-0-0 The meeting adjourned at 7:47 p.m. Meeting Minutes prepared by Julie Beavers 2 050916 Approved Minutes