HOMER,
Wythe
ORDINANCE 07-35(A-2)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE
WHEREAS,
The City Council of Homer,
Whereas, The Council recognizes that
the citizens’ determination of the
councils’ ethical and integral behavior relies heavily upon the behavior of
council members while they are acting within the scope of authority and responsibility
bestowed upon them; and
Whereas, the Council established
Whereas, recent ethics proceedings
brought to light several unaddressed concerns relating to enforcement,
hearings, and other issues.
Section
1. Homer City Code Chapter 1.18 is
hereby amended by the enactment of a new section 1.18.045 to read as follows:
1.18.043 Public Disclosure. a. Each city official must annually file a conflict of interest disclosure using forms substantially the same as the following selected schedules from the Alaska Public Offices Commission Public Official Financial Disclosure Statement: Schedules B (business interests), C (real property interests / rent to own), E (the portion relating to natural resource leases only), F (government contracts and leases) and G (close economic associations). The city clerk shall provide the forms to each city official. The city clerk may make such alterations to the forms as may be necessary to make them applicable to the city and city officials.
b. The annual disclosures must be filed by November 1 each
year. A newly appointed
official must file a disclosure within 30 days of taking office. Each candidate for elected city office must
file a disclosure at the time he or she files a declaration of candidacy, except an incumbent seeking reelection
with a current disclosure on
file. Refusal or failure of a candidate to file the required disclosure before
the end of the time period for filing
declarations of candidacy shall require that the candidate's declaration of candidacy be rejected and the candidate
disqualified.
c. The disclosures must be true, correct and complete and shall
be signed under oath or affirmation, or
certified to be true under penalty of perjury.
d. The disclosures shall be filed with the city clerk and shall
be open to public inspection and copying at the office of the
city clerk. The disclosures will not be sent
to the Alaska Public Offices Commission.
Section 2. Homer City Code Chapter 1.18 is hereby
amended by the enactment of a new section 1.18.045 to read as follows:
1.18.045 Board of
Ethics. a. There is hereby established a Board of Ethics
with primary responsibility for enforcement of this chapter.
b. The Board shall be comprised of all members of the city
council and the mayor. The mayor, or the
vice-mayor in the mayor's absence, will serve as presiding officer of the
Board. In the absence of both, the
members of the Board shall elect a presiding officer from among its
members. The presiding officer shall
vote on every question, unless required to abstain for cause, and shall not
have power to veto any action of the Board.
c. A quorum of the Board shall be a majority of all members who
are not excused for cause, such as being the complainant, the respondent, a
witness, having a conflict of interest, or other cause for recusal. However, in no event may a quorum be less
than three.
d. Decisions of the Board shall be adopted by a majority of a
quorum.
e. Unless the Board delegates such authority to another member
or decides that no one shall have such authority, the presiding officer shall
have authority to make procedural decisions between Board meetings on behalf of
the Board. Examples of matters that may
be decided by such delegate include scheduling hearings and other matters,
establishing pre-hearing requirements and filing deadlines for motions,
exhibits, witness lists, hearing briefs, and deciding other procedural matters.
Section 3. Section 1.18.050 of the Homer City Code
is hereby amended to read as follows:
1.18.050 Hearings on
Complaints. a. The Board will make an
initial determination of the validity of a complaint within thirty days after
receipt of the complaint. This initial
determination will only be whether the complaint is properly completed and
contains allegations that, if true, would constitute a violation of this
chapter. The
time for making a determination may be extended for good cause shown.
b. If the Board determines the complaint is not valid, it may
dismiss the complaint or permit it to be amended.
c. If the Board determines the complaint is valid, it will cause a hearing to be convened to
determine whether a city official has violated this chapter. The complainant and the responding city official shall be provided reasonable
notice and an opportunity to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses. The
hearing will be informal and technical rules of evidence do not apply. The Board may receive any relevant and
reliable evidence. A hearing conducted and any determination made under
the authority of this section are independent of and may be in addition to any
prosecution in court under criminal procedures.
d. When
a hearing is convened to determine whether a city official has violated this
chapter, the Board members will be requested to disclose any conflict of
interest, ex-parte communications, or other facts that may affect their
qualification to hear the matter. After
such a disclosure, the presiding officer shall determine if the member shall
participate or be excused for cause. If
not immediately overruled by the Board, the presiding officer's determination
is final.
e. The city council may direct the city attorney to investigate
or prosecute any apparent violation of this chapter or it may employ or appoint
any qualified attorney to investigate or prosecute any violation or series of
violations by one or more persons of this chapter.
f. A
city official subject to charges under this chapter shall work cooperatively
with the city clerk to establish a hearing date and shall be available at the
place and time set for the hearing, regardless of the official's intentions
concerning defense or exercise of other rights.
Failure to appear, except when failure results from a serious condition
or event that prevented the official's appearance, is a breach of the
official's duties under this chapter that is subject to immediate and summary
disposition by the Board and, upon a finding a violation has occurred, may be
punished a civil fine as provided in
g. Any person who believes that a violation of any
portion of this chapter has occurred may file a complaint with the city
attorney, city manager or the city council.
However, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent
complainants from instituting other legal actions through the
appropriate judicial authority.
Section 4. Section 1.18.080 of the Homer City Code
is hereby amended to read as follows:
1.18.080 Sanctions, civil
penalties and remedies. Upon
conviction for any violation of this chapter under criminal procedures or upon
a determination of any violation of this chapter after a hearing conducted
pursuant to section 1.18.050, the Board of
Ethics may
impose as a sanction, penalty or remedy any or all of the following, as
appropriate to the seriousness of the violation:
a. The Board of Ethics may declare the office
of a city council member vacant for a serious violation that is (i) flagrant or
(ii) willful and knowing. The office of the mayor may be declared vacant only by
the city council and only if the violation
justifies a declaration of vacancy under AS 29.20.280.
b. The Board of Ethics may remove a member of a
board or commission from the board or commission.
c. The Board of Ethics may issue a public
reprimand to the official.
d. The Board of Ethics may order the official
to refrain from voting, deliberating, or participating in any matter in
violation of this chapter.
e. The Board of Ethics may revoke any committee
assignments of the official.
f. The Board of Ethics may revoke or restrict
the official’s privilege to travel at city expense on city business.
g. The Board of Ethics may recommend that a contract or
transaction which was the subject of an official act or action of the city in
which there is an interest prohibited by this chapter, or which involved the
violation of a provision of this chapter, should be voided. If such recommendation is confirmed by the city council, the contract or transaction is voided.
h. The Board of Ethics may order the official
to forfeit or make restitution of any financial benefit the official received
as a consequence of a violation of this chapter.
i. The Board of Ethics may impose a civil fine
of not more than $1,000.
j. The Board of Ethics may direct the city
administration (i) to pursue legal action to enforce any order of the Board of
Ethics made under this section and (ii) to exercise any other legal and
equitable remedies available to seek whatever relief is appropriate.
Section
5. Section 1.18.100 of the
Homer City Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
1.18.100 Application of
state statutes. a.
Nothing in this chapter is intended to curtail, modify, or otherwise
circumvent the application of the Alaska Statutes to any conduct involving
bribery or other offenses against public administration.
b.
All municipal officers as defined by Alaska Statutes Chapter 39.50 are exempt from the
provisions of AS 39.50 relating to conflicts of interest or financial disclosures.
Section
6. This ordinance is of a
permanent and general character and shall be included in the City code.
Section
7. Each current municipal
official made subject to the provisions of AS 39.50 by this ordinance shall
file a public official public disclosure statement within 30 days of the
effective date of this ordinance. The
city clerk shall obtain the required disclosure forms and provide them to all
affected municipal officials promptly after enactment of this ordinance.
ENACTED
BY THE
_________________________________________
DENNIS NOVAK, MAYOR PRO TEMPORE
ATTEST:
______________________________
JO JOHNSON,
YES:
NO:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
First
Public Hearing:
Second
Effective Date:
Reviewed and approved as to form:
_____________________________ ___________________________
Walt E. Wrede, City Manager Gordon J. Tans, City Attorney
Date: ________________________ Date: ______________________
Fiscal Note: N/A