Council Study Session

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT TOWN COUNCIL, IN SPECIAL MEETING FOR A STUDY SESSION, OF TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2023 AT 5:00 PM, MUNICIPAL CENTER I, COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 50 E. CIVIC CENTER DRIVE, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL Mayor Brigette PRESENT: Peterson Mayor Brigette Peterson, Vice Mayor Kathy Tilque, Councilmembers Scott Anderson, Chuck Bongiovanni, Bobbi Buchli, Yung Koprowski, and Jim Torgeson COUNCIL ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Town Attorney Christopher Payne, Town Clerk Chaveli Herrera, and Deputy Town Clerk Judy Martinez CALL TO ORDER OF SPECIAL MEETING Mayor Peterson called the meeting to order at 5:04 p.m. AGENDA ITEM 1. Discussion and direction on the recommendation from the Council Subcommittee on Code of Ethics related to the Ethics Handbook Policy and Code of Conduct. Town Attorney Payne highlighted the work of the Council Subcommittee on Code of Ethics including a review of the history and purpose, their recommendations, and then asked for direction. He stated the Council adopted an Eithcs Policy on August 2, 2012 to maintain public confidence in integrity of public officials and to instill public trust through the actions, words, and deeds of public officials. He said it was then revised on November 2, 2021 to require three Councilmembers to agendize a complaint. He noted it was the topic of the December 2, 2022 Council Retreat, then the Council Subcommittee was created on December 13, 2022. He stated the purpose of the Subcommittee was to explore policies for revising and updating the current policy, inlcuding best practices for responding to 1 complaints. He stated the Subcommittee met four times and were bringing forward the recommendations to repeal the existing Code of Ethics, in conjunction with adoption of an Ethics Handbook and a Code of Conduct. He discussed the changes recommended within the Ethics Handbook, information on the scope under the pillars of honesty/ integrity; fairness, impartiality, respect; loyalty; and gifts. He discussed the violation of any of the ethical pillars and the complaint/violation process. He said any other types of violations not found in the Handbook had State remedies and talked about the recourse available under State Law. He detailed the limitations of the proposed Handbook including filing requirements, complainant restrictions and discussed the nexus involved in those filing the complaints and filing deadline within 30 days. He talked about the importance of the Subcommittee in resolving complaints quickly through the process. He outlined the three part complaint process to include a mediation, followed by an independent investigation and report and then a final Town Council Review and Determination at the next regularly scheduled public meeting as an administrative item to make a final decision on what they would like to do with the complaint. He talked about an independent ethics reviewer process and outlined the options of Council once the recommendation was received. He provided information on the proposed possible penalties/sanctions with an affirmative vote of five members of Council. Town Attorney Payne then discussed the purpose of the Code of Conduct as “common sense guildelines assist the ability of Public Officials to perform their duties with the highest standards of personal ethics, integrity, fairness, and impartiality.” He said it applied to elected and appointed Public Officials, including Councilmembers and Board and Commission Members. He stated that those listed under the Code of Conduct were more procedural and did not rise to the level of an ethical violation. He stated the Subcommittee wanted to ensure there were guidelines in place to address any issues or concerns based on conduct. He provided a general overview of the Code of Conduct sections and talked about the expectation of behavior in the interested parties. He outlined the recommended complaint process of the Code of Conduct and stated it was different than that of the Ethics violation. He said it may only be filed by public officials or staff, there was a 30 day limitation, mandatory in-person meeting, and stated it would constitute as an ethical violation for refusal 2 to participate and Council would be able to decide whether multiple Code of Conduct complaints should be considered an Ethics Complaint. Vice Mayor Tilque shared her appreciation on the work of the Subcommittee members and said the goal was to never have to use the process and talked about the need to create a process everyone was aware of. She talked about how new councilmembers came from different backgrounds and with having to navigate though different requirements, these documents would serve as a training resource to better understand the differences and nuances ahead of time. She stated if anyone were to misstep there were now opportunities ahead of time before anything was escalated. She said the goal was to understand the differences and understand we would stumble along the way but we had guidelines to assist. Councilmember Anderson thanked everyone for their participation and stated the goal was to get something that was easy to understand and a simple process that could be resolved quickly. He recommended the Handbook should be shared with Board and Commission members for input prior to its adoption. Councilmember Koprowski thanked everyone for the information and stated she appreciated the work on the handbook and code of conduct adding it was clear and helpful to provide direction. She commented on a specific section related to Town Council conduct with the media, she said it was brief and would suggest the section be expanded on additional points of authority or how a public official could work with the media and any direction they had for that. Councilmember Bongiovanni spoke in agreement with Councilmember Anderson in obtaining feedback from Board and Commission members as well. Vice Mayor Tilque asked for clarification on the type of feedback they were looking for since the Board and Commission members serve at the pleasure of the Council. Councilmember Anderson clarified he wanted an acknowledgment to ensure they were aware of the process before it went forward for a final vote. Vice Mayor Tilque recommended a draft be sent to Board and Commission members after the meeting to which Councilmember Anderson agreed. 3 Vice Mayor Tilque wanted clarification on who could file a complaint and said staff could file a complaint through the Town Manager and Town Attorney Payne clarified the language and the recommendation was to add additional language to clarify that section. Mayor Peterson recommended that public officials be defined more clearly to state it was both elected and appointed officials to avoid confusion. She expressed concern in sending the draft out and members expecting they could provide feedback and then not being able to review feedback with the item returning to Council on June 20, 2023. She recommended once it was voted on it be sent out at that time to be brought up to speed. She asked Councilmember Anderson of his intent and he clarified he did not want to catch anyone off- guard. Mayor Peterson recommended to have an effective date within 60 days of adoption to give everyone enough time to become aware and give staff enough time to get the information out to all members. Town Attorney Payne clarified the effective date be 60 days from June 20, 2023 to which Council confirmed. Vice Mayor Tilque stated it would be included as part of the training going forward and asked about scheduling a training specifically to address the changes. Mayor Peterson confirmed it would be part of the training and for new members and asked Town Clerk Herrera if the training was still available online. Town Clerk Herrera confirmed and said the information would also be placed in the resource center for all members. Mayor Peterson asked about a section related to Arizona Rule of Evidence 408 and Town Attorney Payne clarified the Rule. Mayor Peterson asked that it be further clarified to which he confirmed. Town Attorney Payne stated he would work with staff to add more information to the section related to the media at the request of Councilmember Koprowski and bring it back for Council discussion at the meeting on June 20, 2023. Councilmember Koprowski asked if the information could be sent out ahead of time through email to which Town Attorney Payne confirmed. ADJOURN 4 Mayor Peterson adjourned the meeting at 5:37 p.m. ATTEST: ___________________________ ___________________________________ Brigette Peterson, Mayor Chaveli Herrera, MMC, Town Clerk 5 CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Study Session of the Town Council of the Town of Gilbert held on the 6th day of June, 2023. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this ____ day of ____________________2023. ___________________________________ Chaveli Herrera, Town Clerk 6