ETHICS For City Government Elected Officials November 30, 2007 By Jerry W. Wells

OBJECTIVES To provide each of you with the most up to date information to assist you in your tenure as an elected official To show the importance of following laws and established procedures unless those are lawfully changed To show how ethics issues are interrelated in all decisions to be made To advise you that you do not have to follow my suggestions—but at your potential peril!

Assumptions for this Presentation Each of you worked hard to be elected Each of you care about your community Each of you want to be successful Each of you want to be re-elected and/or leave office with your reputation in tact Each of you want city government to run as effectively and efficiently as possible

Example for Today’s Ethics Presentation is the Police Dept. Actions of public officials can lead to being a ‘root cause’ of police employee misconduct It is imperative that each of you remember that your entire Human Resource System has been under a merit system mandate since the early seventy’s There is a 1998 state statute that mandates the minimum methods to be used to hire police officers Also remember that your promotional systems for both Police and Fire Departments have been in place since 1977 to avoid any hint of favoritism

Why The Last Slide is So Important: Ethical Damages Improper interference in the hiring process—unjust reasons or without a proper background check Improper interference in the promotional process Unjust salaries and/or working conditions All of these can cause long term damage with employee morale and/or trust of you as the city’s governmental policy board

Each Of You Have a Political Out Already Provided For You You will have political supporters who live by the thought that what good does it do me if I cannot get an elected friend to help me bend a rule once in a while? (Remember the earlier slides about some things being already locked in through law) Remember traffic ticket favors are in the purview of the elected court system. (Do not try to fix a ticket though the police department, that can lead to a malfeasance (???) charge through the Grand Jury process)

Political Outs For You, Continued Remember that other commissions have adopted for them and others to follow the Commonwealth of Kentucky model procurement code under Chapter 45 A This mandates sealed bids of certain amounts (usually over $20,000) which will take the pressure off you for contract purchases Chapter 2 of City Ordinances discusses political interference in day to day operations.

City Manager/City Commission Chain of Command Mayor is the Board Chairperson The four Commissions and Mayor have an equal vote The City Manager runs the day to day city government operations The Department Heads (Chief of Police) answers to the City Manager

Why Is This So Important and What Does It Mean to Me? New Orleans Police Issues Miami Police Issues Local Examples Service to eight mayors and twenty-four commissioners that comprised fifteen City Commissions, four City Managers and Four Police Chiefs from October 1976 to October 31, 2006 Institutional History—History not learned and appreciated, one is doomed to repeat

QUESTIONS ??? What questions do you have that I may answer for each of you?