Board of Ethics

BOARD OF ETHICS MINUTES June 6, 2024 MAYOR’S CONFERENCE ROOM Chairman Brewington called the meeting to order at 6:45 p.m. Present: Chairman Curtis Brewington, Beresford Granston, Leslie Alpert, Rev. F. Romall Smalls, Ed Byrnes, Blair Hoplight PUBLIC SESSION A motion was made to approve the minutes of April 24, 2024 and seconded. All in favor. Ed Byrnes presented the proposed revision for the Rules of Procedure as initiated by Leslie Alpert referring to “missing meetings.” Rules of Procedure, as listed on the city website for other boards, have more specific language. Blair Hoplight questioned if he missed a meeting is it applicable as stated in the proposed revision. Ed Byrnes responded that missed meetings with reasonable excuses and prior communication with the board would be acceptable. The matter of the meeting schedule was discussed with Leslie Alpert stating that it states in the existing Rules of Procedure that meetings are held on Thursdays. Blair Hoplight indicated that he was locked out of his last attempt to join the meeting via Zoom. It was understood that this was a technical problem and no board member could be held responsible. Leslie Alpert stated that there most definitely was an attempt by the member to participate. Rev. Smalls said that we need more board members and with the revision in the Rules of Procedure there was a thorough explanation of what is expected of new members. Curtis Brewington said he belongs to another organization and they reach out to a non- attending member first before automatically voting a member out of office. Rev. Smalls did not like the language which referred to consecutive meetings. Ed Byrnes said in 2020 there was a meeting every week but the situation has changed now. Chairman Brewington said that we needed a hard number of meetings not percentages in response to a suggestion by Rev. Smalls. Ed Byrnes said if someone misses three meetings without an excuse there should be a recommendation for dismissal in response to Rev. Smalls.  -2- Chairman Brewington said these are guidelines for accountability. A motion was made to accept the revision to the Rules of Procedure. Chairman Brewington commended the board members for this revision. He said it speaks volumes for this board and shows how well organized it is. The motion was seconded. All in favor A motion was made to go into executive session. All in favor. A motion was made to end the executive session at 8:13 pm. All in favor. PUBLIC SESSION The public session resumed and there was a unified board acknowledgement of the service given by Ed Byrnes whose term ends in July. All joined in a hearty “Thank you, Ed.” The next meeting is scheduled for July 18, 2024.