PORT ANGELES — The city ethics code has been revised amid calls by some City Council members to overhaul the ordinance.
Ethics code complaints have been filed against all seven council members over actions they took at prior meetings, where there was vigorous public comment, primarily about fluoridation of city water.
Narrow scope
Council members voted 5-1 Tuesday to narrow the scope of the ordinance, with Councilman Lee Whetham voting no and Councilman Brad Collins absent because he was out of town.
The change in the ethics code removes a provision under which council members could be targeted with multiple complaints for the same behavior.
“Once the [ethics] board has concluded its proceedings, no other complaints or claims may be made against the same public official alleging a violation for conduct arising from the same act or course of conduct,” according to the newly worded ordinance.
Whetham said at Tuesday’s meeting that the revision was not enough.
“I’ve got a problem with this ethics code in its entirety,” he said.
“I think it’s ill-conceived and definitely full of holes.
“I would rather not support any type of changes until we have had a larger conversation about this entire code.”
Though Councilman Michael Merideth joined the majority, he agreed with Whetham that more should be done.
“This, to me, is a temporary cover until we can address the entire ethics section,” Merideth said.
Councilman Dan Gase, who participated by speakerphone and also voted for the change, called it a single fix for a single issue.
“The entire ordinance needs to have some continued review,” he said.
Constitutional issues
Former Superior Court Judge Ken Williams, an ethics board member, had raised constitutional issues about the ordinance after the same complaint was filed against Deputy Mayor Cherie Kidd by two different complainants.
The anti-fluoridation group Our Water, Our Choice! and city resident and fluoridation foe Marolee Smith filed complaints against Kidd for engaging in “conduct or activities that reflect discredit on the public officials, tend to bring the city into disrepute or impair its efficient and effective operation” at the Feb. 2 meeting.
An ethics board composed of formal Superior Court Judge Grant Meiner, Frank Prince Jr. and Danetta Rutten found Kidd violated the code.
It recommended to the City Council that Kidd be verbally admonished, a decision the council has put off until the other complaints are resolved.
Our Water, Our Choice! dropped the reflecting-discredit complaint after that portion of Smith’s complaint was upheld by the ethics committee.
Most recent complaint
Council members also voted 4-0 Tuesday to name Meiner, Prince and Diana Tschimperle to hear the complaint filed by Marie Wiggins, the wife of former Mayor Glenn Wiggins.
Wiggins filed a May 2 complaint against Whetham, Merideth, Collins and Councilwoman Sissi Bruch, alleging they violated the ethical code by violating the state Open Public Meetings Act.
The four council members named in the complaint stayed in council chambers to hear public comments Feb. 2 after Kidd abruptly adjourned the meeting.
Bruch, Gase, Kidd and Mayor Patrick Downie voted to name the board.
Whetham and Merideth recused themselves from the vote Tuesday because they were named in the complaint, even though City Attorney Bill Bloor said they could have voted on the matter to ensure a council quorum.
Bloor said that under the legal doctrine of “the rule of necessity,” the council can guarantee a quorum to conduct business despite such conflicts.
“Whenever it smells like fish, it’s fishy,” Whetham said.
Said Merideth: “I don’t want to take part in this. It affects me personally.”
Bruch said the complaint needed to be addressed by naming a board, so she decided to vote.
“Somebody had to stay. Otherwise, we couldn’t get our business done,” Bruch said Wednesday.
And Downie said residents’ interests were not served by the whole process “just coming to a halt.”
Gase said the pool of ethics board members had already been selected.
He said it was not appropriate for council members to recuse themselves “just to stay out of it just for appearance purposes.”
Vote on alternate
The council also voted 4-0 to name Meiner as an alternate for William Yucha to an ethics board to hear a complaint filed by Our Water, Our Choice!.
Yucha has been unable to attend all the meetings.
Bruch, Merideth, Downie and Whetham voted for the selection.
Kidd and Gase recused themselves from the vote because they were named in the complaint being considered by the board.
Our Water, Our Choice! had accused Gase of being unethical for not speaking up to challenge Kidd at the Feb. 2 meeting.
Gase at first said he should be able to take part because the board had issued findings of fact and conclusions of law on the complaint against him.
“It’s over. It’s done,” Gase said.
Responded Bloor: “It’s still the City Council’s decision.”
Whetham said the issue of whether Gase should be able to take part in the vote buttressed his own point.
“This is just another problem I see with the ethics code that we have,” Whetham said.
“I think it was actually adopted to go after a certain council member,” Whetham said in an interview Wednesday, adding that he was referring to former City Council member Max Mania.
“What’s occurred is, this thing is full of holes.
“I just don’t think in the long run . . . it’s the best thing for the city to have in place.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
