Vague language postpones city ethics policy approval
City Commissioners have placed a proposed city ethics policy on the back burner for further revisions.
The Mount Pleasant City Commission voted unanimously Monday to postpone a decision on adopting the policy after hearing a more detailed presentation from city attorney Scott Smith.
The policy states that a city official “shall not vote, act upon, participate in any discussion ... regarding any matter from which he or she may realize any private gain or regarding which he or she has a conflict of interest.”
Because of the wording, several commissioners felt there should be more detail regarding conflicts of interest involving relatives and friends. Under the proposed plan, commissioners could vote on issues directly involving spouses and family members.
“If my son was the one making a request ... I would have a problem with that,” Commissioner Kathy Ling said. “I think it’s a hard sell.”
Commissioner David McGuire said the vagueness of the policy seemed to have already been instituted through the city charter.
“The intent of most of this is there,” he said. “We’re sworn to hold the city charter, and it seems to me that these are all in the charter.”
The policy also would require officials to limit representative comments made regarding other boards.
“Anything that’s applicable to the body on which they serve,” Smith said. “That’s the privilege held by a body as a whole.”
The policy would not affect the city’s relationship with the media, Smith said.
“As long as they explain it’s their opinion,” he said.
The ethics policy was first discussed at a meeting March 4. Vice Mayor Bruce Kilmer and Ling were appointed to draft a policy.
Lenders would be exempt from the policy, an issue Planning Commission Vice Chairman Jeff Smith mentioned at the previous meeting. Since Smith worked at Isabella Bank, he said he would have been forced to recuse himself from any discussion where Isabella Bank was a lender.
“They might have an indirect benefit ... but they don’t abruptly financially benefit,” Scott Smith said.
