July 18, 2005

KING COUNTY BOARD OF ETHICS MEETING NOTICE

When: Monday, July 18, 2005, 4:30 p.m.

Where: Bank of America Tower

701 Fifth Avenue, 34 th floor

Conference Room, Suite 3460

Seattle, WA 98104

AGENDA

1. Approval of Agenda

2. Approval of Meeting Minutes of June 20, 2005.

3. Ethics Administrator. Scope of work and responsibilities – discussion.

4. Duty to Notify Supervisors—Guidelines for Employees and Supervisors.

Discussion and review of draft advisory opinion.

5. Statement of Principles. Discussion and review of draft.

6. Recognizing King County Board and Commission Members. Discussion on

use of county resources to write recommendations and/or recognize service to the county.

7. Gifts or Donations Recognizing board of Ethics Members and/or Staff. Discussion.

8. Political Activities for Board Members. Discussion.

9. Staff Report.

• Staff Informational Response Summary
• Ethics Education for Directors and Deputies
• Miscellaneous correspondence

10. Pending Appeal Hearing. Update

Upon advance request, reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities

are available by calling 206-296-1586 or TTY Relay: 771

ALTERNATE FORMATS AVAILABLE

King County Board of Ethics
Bank of America Tower
701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 3460
Seattle , WA 98104 MS BOA-ES-3460
206-296-1586 Fax 206-205-0725
board.ethics@kingcounty.gov
http://www.kingcounty.gov/ethics

Minutes of the July 18, 2005 , Meeting

of the King County Board of Ethics

The July 18, 2005 , meeting of the King County Board of Ethics was called to order by Chair Price Spratlen at 4:30 p.m. Board members in attendance were:

Lois Price Spratlen , Ph.D., Chair

Margaret T. Gordon, Ph.D.

Rev. Paul F. Pruitt

Jerry Saltzman and Roland H. Carlson had excused absences.

Others in attendance:

Catherine A. Clemens, Administrator, Board of Ethics

Alan Abrams, Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney and Board Counsel

1. Approval of Agenda . Dr. Gordon moved and Rev. Pruitt seconded that the Board approve the proposed agenda. The Board unanimously adopted the motion.

2. Approval of Meeting Minutes of June 20, 2005 . Rev. Pruitt moved and Dr. Gordon seconded that the Board approve the June 20, 2005 , meeting minutes. The Board unanimously adopted the motion and the minutes were approved.

3. Ethics Administrator. At 4:32 p.m. Chair Price Spratlen requested that the meeting move into executive session for the purpose of discussing the performance of a public employee. The Chair announced that the executive session would conclude in 30 minutes. At 5:03 p.m. , the Board completed the executive session and resumed its regular meeting.

Mr. Abrams joined the meeting at 5:05 p.m.

4. Duty to Notify Supervisor—Guidelines for Employees and Supervisors. Ms. Clemens presented the draft advisory opinion related to KCC 3.04.037, Duty to Notify Supervisor. Following discussion and suggestions for change, Dr. Gordon moved to accept the draft with revisions, and that the draft be presented to the Board at the next scheduled meeting for final review and approval; Rev. Pruitt seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

5. Statement of Principles. The Board discussed the current draft and agreed to send further comments to Dr. Gordon for inclusion in the final document. Mr. Abrams suggested focusing on general principles, not on various codes, which will allow greater buy-in by jurisdictions in the future. Rev. Pruitt moved to request that Dr. Gordon create a final document based upon the comments, and for the Board to review and approve it at its next meeting; Dr. Gordon seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

6. Recognizing King County Board of Ethics Members. Mr. Abrams briefed the Board , noting that his advice on use of county resources for recognition of ethics Board members had not changed from that of June 20, 2005 . His previous response, based on the Code of Ethics and past advisory opinions included in part that Board members may not use their public office for his or her private gain or for the private gain of third persons with whom the Board member is affiliated in a non-governmental capacity. In addition, information regarding the ability of Board members to prepare letters of recommendation must wait until the Human Resources Division develops policies related to this matter. It has been suggested to DES management that the Board review such policies. Dr. Gordon moved and Rev. Pruitt seconded that the Board accept the advice provided by Mr. Abrams; the motion passed unanimously.

7. Gifts or Donations Recognizing Board of Ethics Members and/or Staff . Mr. Abrams briefed the Board . He advised that, based upon advisory opinions 1145 and 1119 and the Code of Ethics, the Board may, under specific circumstances, collect donations to buy cards and/or other modest gifts in recognition of special occasions. Following discussion, Rev. Pruitt moved and Dr. Gordon seconded that the Board accept the advice provided by Mr. Abrams; the motion passed unanimously.

8. Political Activities for Board Members . Mr. Abrams briefed the Board , providing general rules and laws related to election campaign activities, noting that these materials represent guidelines for member participation. Ms. Clemens stated that, in years past, the Board has made informal agreements that members would not contribute to, nor participate in, campaign activities for any candidate over whom they might be required to take action in their role as Board members. Chair Price Spratlen acknowledged the well-written materials provided to the Board during the meeting, and thanked Mr. Abrams for the clarification. Dr. Gordon moved and Rev. Pruitt seconded that the Board accept the advice provided by Mr. Abrams; the motion passed unanimously.

9. Staff Report. Ms. Clemens briefed the Board . Staff informational responses. The ethics administrator issued eight (8) written staff informational responses (SIR) between June 9, 2005 , and July 11, 2005 , as requested by employees and elected officials of King County . This summary is intended to inform the Board of Ethics of the number and range of topics of the SIRs. Generally, at least one Board member and Board counsel are copied on the response. Ethics issues addressed by the responses include: outside relationships between supervisors and subordinates; use of county resources – credit union promotions; boards and commissions – relatives serving on boards; gift of government funds – stipend to volunteer; acceptance of gifts – guidelines; use of county resources – guidelines; potential contractor lobbying former colleagues; and employee marketing private business to clients. Dr. Gordon requested copies of three of the SIRs. Ethics education for directors and deputies. Ms. Clemens briefed the Board . At a previous meeting, the Board inquired about training efforts directed to and received by county directors and deputies. Ms. Clemens provided training statistics for these county employees, from January 1 to June 30, 2005 . This training is a part of the administrator’s outreach to department leadership conducted every other year. To date, 11 out of 12 county departments (excluding the County Council) have taken part in the leadership meeting schedule. The executive has not yet scheduled. The 11 leadership groups totaled 130 individuals. The Human Resources Division has scheduled the ethics administrator to present an hour-long overview of the Code of Ethics and the Board of Ethics and its office to the operations cabinet in March, 2006. This cabinet is made up of executive department deputies and operations managers. This is an effort to ensure that leadership is informed on topics that have been designated ‘mandatory’ for all supervisory staff. To date this year, 329 supervisors have attended ethics training. Chair Price Spratlen directed the administrator to arrange for a meeting between the executive and two members of the Board . Miscellaneous correspondence. Included letters of appreciation from the chair to county employees. No action was required or taken.

10. Pending Appeal Hearing. Ms. Clemens distributed a status report on the Holley Appeal provided by Presiding Officer Carl Johansen . In this memo, Mr. Johansen stated that counsel for both parties are continuing discussion on issues involved in the appeal; that we remain in compliance with the timelines in the board’s appeal procedures; and that he will continue to report in a timely way.

Mr. Abrams left the meeting at 5:48 p.m. The Board discussed a possible change to the meeting time, and placed further consideration of the matter on the next meeting agenda.

It was determined that the two regularly scheduled meetings on August 15 and September 19, 2005 , shall be canceled and members informed.

At 5:59 p.m. Chair Price Spratlen requested that the meeting move into executive session for the purpose of discussing the performance of a public employee. The Chair announced that the executive session would conclude in 15 minutes. At 6:15 p.m. , the Board completed the executive session and resumed its regular meeting.

Rev. Pruitt moved and Dr. Gordon seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting. The Board unanimously approved the motion and the meeting was adjourned at 6:17 p.m.

Approved this ­­17th day of October, 2005, by the King County Board of Ethics.

Signed for the Board :__________________________________________________

Dr. Lois Price Spratlen, Chair