KING COUNTY BOARD OF ETHICS MEETING NOTICE

When:
Monday, April 21, 2008, 9:30 a.m.

Where:
The Chinook Building
401 Fifth Avenue
1st floor, conference room 118
Seattle, WA 98104

AGENDA

1. Approval of Agenda

2. Approval of Meeting Minutes of February 19, 2008

3. Request for Advisory Opinion: Appropriate use of county information technology.

4. 2008 Financial Disclosure Program Report

• Requests for suspension
• Non-compliance report and show cause letters

5. Board Positions: Status review.

• Executive appointment
• County Council nominations

6. Statement of Principles: Status review

7. Staff Report

• Staff informational response summary
• Request for advisory opinion board response
• Public disclosure request
• Ethics promotion and measurements through human resources

Upon advance request, reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities
are available by calling 206-296-1586 or TTY Relay: 771

ALTERNATE FORMATS AVAILABLE

Minutes of the April 21, 2008, meeting
of the King County Board of Ethics

The April 21, 2008, meeting of the King County Board of Ethics was called to order by Chair Price Spratlen at 9:34 a.m. Board members in attendance were:

Roland H. Carlson
Lois Price Spratlen, Ph.D., Chair
Rev. Paul Pruitt
Anne J. Watanabe, Esq.

Others in attendance:
Alan Abrams, Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney and Board Counsel
James J. Buck, CAO and Director, Department of Executive Services
Catherine A. Clemens, Executive Director, Board of Ethics
Ralph Johnson, Chief Information Security & Privacy Officer, OIRM
Michael Strouse, Administrator, Department of Executive Services
Patti Cole-Tindall, HR Service Delivery / Labor Relations Manager, OIRM
Peter Toliver, Financial Disclosure Coordinator, Board of Ethics

1. Approval of Agenda. With the addition of one staff report item, Rev. Pruitt moved and Mr. Carlson seconded that the board approve the proposed agenda. The board unanimously adopted the motion.

Attendees introduced themselves.

2. Approval of Meeting Minutes of February 19, 2008. Ms. Watanabe moved and Rev. Pruitt seconded that the board approve the February 19, 2008, meeting minutes. The board unanimously adopted the motion and the minutes were approved.

3. Request for Advisory Opinion - appropriate use of county information technology. Ms.
Clemens briefed the board. During the November 19, 2007, meeting of the Board of Ethics, the board directed her to prepare a draft advisory opinion offering guidelines on the use of county information technology assets by county employees. Ms. Clemens presented the board with a draft opinion at the February 19, 2008, meeting; due to new information and input from county staff at that meeting, it was agreed to review the draft opinion and present again at a future meeting. County staff from the ethics office, the prosecuting attorney's office, the ombudsman's office, and the Office of Information and Resource Management met, reviewed the document, and provided comments and suggestions. Ms. Clemens presented the final draft advisory opinion based on the board's directives and the collaborative development process. Ms. Clemens also provided past opinions 95-1-1106 and 96-08-1146 referenced in the draft.

The board discussed management responsibilities and the importance of ensuring that county leadership understand its role in ensuring appropriate use of county resources. Mr. Carlson moved to accept the draft advisory opinion 1163 as written; Ms. Watanabe seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. Ms. Clemens was directed to disseminate the final opinion to all elected officials, county employees and management.

Ms. Cole-Tindall and Mr. Johnson left the meeting at 9:47 a.m.

4. 2008 Financial Disclosure Program Report. Ms. Clemens briefed the board. She provided an overview of the program and summarized results: as of the statutory deadline of April 15, 4:30 p.m., of the 3,268 employees, elected officials and board and commission members required to file statements, 99.24%, or all but 25, complied. The director sent the final report to county leadership on April 16, as well as show cause letters to the 25 individuals who had yet to file. These individuals have until April 30 to submit their completed forms. Ms. Clemens commended the excellent work of Peter Toliver, this year's financial disclosure coordinator, which significantly contributed to the success of the program. Mr. Toliver spoke to the board about the program and the importance of customer service in achieving cooperation from designated coordinators. He also suggested enhanced education and training in 2009. Mr. Toliver noted Mr. Strouse's contributions and the systems he has developed as a model for other department coordinators. He offered to conduct research into other similar jurisdictions to find out more about their success rates and processes for continual quality improvement in the county's program. Board members commended Mr. Toliver for his exemplary work this year.

The board reviewed the six requests for suspension or modification from the filing requirement submitted for board members and/or employees. The requests had been previously filed by county supervisors and temporarily approved by the executive director. Mr. Carlson moved and Ms. Watanabe seconded that all six requests be approved. The board unanimously adopted the motion and the six requests were approved.

Ms. Clemens reviewed samples of show cause letters with the board which were provided in board materials.

The chair determined that the meeting would move to agenda item #7.

7. Staff Report. Staff informational response summary. The executive director issued 30 written staff informational responses (SIR) between February 7 and April 11, 2008, as requested by employees and elected officials of King County. Ethics issues addressed by the responses include: donations of county property; reporting violations; board membership (2); duty to notify supervisor (3); outside employment (2); use of county; resources for personal convenience (3); potential conflict with official position (3); advertising with and for vendors (2); displaying vendor logos; nepotism; testimonials and referrals; acceptance of gifts from corporate sponsors, vendors or customers (3); solicitation to/from vendors (2); acceptance of donations from corporations; financial disclosure requirements; post employment; and jurisdiction (2). Request for advisory opinion board response. Ms. Clemens' response to Councilmember Lambert's request on behalf of the board; no action was required or taken. Public disclosure request. The board received the response to a recent request for public disclosure of board documents; no action was required or taken. Ethics promotion and measurements through human resources. Ms. Clemens briefed the board on her recent meeting with human resources Deputy Director Michael Frawley regarding her proposal to incorporate ethics requirements and measurements into on-going human resources activities. The activities include: ensuring the filing disclosure requirement when processing new or newly promoted employees; adding an ethics component in annual evaluations for lead, supervisory and management personnel; include an ethics question in promotions and hiring; and tracking and reporting on ethics violations which meet a disciplinary action threshold. Ms. Clemens reported that Mr. Frawley was receptive to these initiatives and she is working with him to formalize these measures.

Mr. Abrams was absent from the meeting from 10:28 am to 10:30 am. Rev. Pruitt was absent from the meeting from 10:30 a.m. to 10:37 am.

Mr. Buck arrived at 10:50 a.m. The chair determined that the meeting would resume with agenda item #5.

5. Board Positions. Ms. Clemens briefed the board and provided a status report on the three board terms that have or will be expiring in 2008. The first position, now held by Margaret T. Gordon, expired on March 25. Dr. Gordon formally indicated her decision not to seek reappointment on April 16. Following the board's procedures on nominations and appointments, county staff has sent a notification press release to the public. She drew the board's attention to the related procedures and press release. Interested parties had until April 18 to apply or indicate their interest; other groups or individuals may suggested candidates. Ms. Clemens distributed four letters of interest received by the ethics office.

The second and third positions, now held by Roland H. Carlson and Paul F. Pruitt, are council nominations. The County Council chair has been notified by letter and she plans to communicate with all council members on the matter. Council nominations will go directly to the executive for appointment.

Following discussion, the board and Mr. Buck agreed to the following steps: 1) request a complete packet from all who have indicated an interest, including letter and resume; set one week deadline; 2) forward requests for consideration to each of the board members and to Mr. Buck; 3) determine which candidates the board wished interview; and 4) invite candidates to the next board meeting on May 19, 2008.

6. Statement of Principles - status review. Mr. Buck briefed the board on activities related to the statement of principles. He has contact staff for the Washington Association of County Officials (WACO) and Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC). Both are aware of the statement of principles initiative, its plans, goals and current support. In addition, Mr. Buck provided each organization with information packets. At this time, both organizations are reviewing future agendas for times during which we may make presentations. As a note of caution, he stated that some jurisdictions may wish to create their own version of the statement and therefore one signing event may not be appropriate. He noted that WACO is holding its conference in October and WSAC in early November. Mr. Buck is also working with executive staff, particularly in relation to regional cities and there is discussion about a presentation to them as a group. Mr. Buck will communicate with the board on within two or three weeks with a goal of meeting with these organizations in Olympia before the next board meeting. The board thanked Mr. Buck for this work on this matter and look forward to the next steps in the process.

Mr. Carlson moved and Ms. Watanabe seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting. The board unanimously approved the motion and the meeting was adjourned at 11:27 a.m.

Approved this 19th day of May, 2008, by the King County Board of Ethics.

Signed for the Board:__________________________________________________
Dr. Lois Price Spratlen, Chair