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KING COUNTY BOARD OF ETHICS MEETING NOTICE When:
Monday, June 16, 2008, 9:30 a.m.
Where:
The Chinook Building
401 Fifth Avenue
1st floor, conference room 118
Seattle, WA 98104
AGENDA1. Approval of Agenda 2. Approval of Meeting Minutes of May 19, 2008 3. New Ethics Staff. Welcome Peter Toliver 4. Board Positions: Interviews and status review. 5. Amended Board of Ethics Rules and Procedures. Review for processing. - Procedures for Issuing Advisory Opinions
- Procedures for Meetings of the King County Board of Ethics
- Rules of Procedure for Appeal Hearings
- Rules Related to Filing Statements of Financial and Other Interests
6. 2009 Employee Statement of Financial and Other Interests. Request for board review of certain disclosure requirements. 7. Statement of Principles. Status review. 8. Staff Report - Staff informational response summary
- Ethics promotion and measurements through Human Resource Division
- Response to King County Housing Authority request
- Ninth Annual Board Reception
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 June 16, 2008, meeting
of the King County Board of Ethics
The June 16, 2008, meeting of the King County Board of Ethics was called to order by Chair Price Spratlen at 9:30 a.m. Board members in attendance were:
Rev. Paul Pruitt
Lois Price Spratlen, Ph.D., Chair
Anne J. Watanabe, Esq.
Roland H. Carlson had an excused absence.
Others in attendance:
Alan Abrams, Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney and Board Counsel
Catherine A. Clemens, Executive Director, Board of Ethics
Peter Toliver, Administrative Specialist
Col. Phillip Weinert, Board Candidate
1. Approval of Agenda. Rev. Pruitt moved and Ms. Watanabe seconded that the board approve the proposed agenda. The board unanimously adopted the motion.
Attendees introduced themselves.
2. Approval of Meeting Minutes of May 19, 2008. Ms. Watanabe moved and Rev. Pruitt seconded that the board approve the May 19, 2008, meeting minutes. The board unanimously adopted the motion and the minutes were approved.
3. New Ethics Staff. Ms. Clemens referred board members to the explanatory memo describing the need for and process in hiring the administrative specialist position for the ethics office. She introduced Peter Toliver, the successful candidate, who has served in a temporary capacity as financial disclosure coordinator over the past several years. Mr. Toliver voiced his appreciation and the board welcomed him.
4. Board Positions. One additional candidate who had expressed interest in the open board position attended the meeting; the other candidate expected to attend had declined due to other time commitments. The position is an executive nomination and appointment. Board members and interested parties shared information through a question and answer session. Following the session, the board thanked the board candidate and he left the meeting at 9:55 a.m. Ms. Clemens noted that the County Council had nominated an expired position held by Rev. Pruitt, and distributed a board position application submitted to the executive. (Rev. Pruitt did not seek reappointment). The board asked if it would be possible to meet the council nominee and Ms. Clemens promised to explore that possibility and respond to the board via email.
Mr. Abrams was absent from the meeting 9:52 a.m. - 9:57 a.m.
5. Amended Board of Ethics Rules and Procedures. Ms. Clemens briefed the board. She stated that certain rules and procedures of the King County Board of Ethics are now out-of-date and require revision to make them complete and current. Following review by board counsel, she proposed that the board act to correct these issues. She outlined the specific rules and procedures to be addressed and the issues requiring amending as:
(1) Procedures for Issuing Advisory Opinions - make current certain information due to office relocation and other operational matters and make minor editing changes; (2)
Procedures for Meetings for the King County Board of Ethics - make current the time and location of meetings and make minor editing changes; (3) Rules of Procedure for Appeal Hearings - make current certain information due to office relocation and other operational matters and make minor editing changes; and (4) Rules Related to Filing Statements of Financial and Other Interests - make current certain information due to office relocation and other operational matters and make minor editing changes. Following discussion, and according to K.C.C. Chapter 2.98, procedures for Adopting Amended Rules and Procedures, Rev. Pruitt moved that the board approve the draft rules and procedures; Ms. Watanabe seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. The board then determined the time, place and manner of receiving public comment as presented by the executive director, and the board approved the notice for public comment.
6. 2009 Employee Statement of Financial and Other Interests. Mr. Toliver read the related memo to the board. Of the 2,766 employees required to file disclosure statements in 2008, approximately 1.5% also serve on county boards and commissions whose members are required to file. Prior to 2005, those employees routinely completed both the employee form and the board member form; the two filing categories were recorded and filed separately.
In 2004, one employee took exception to the requirement to fill out two forms and refused to complete both. Based on that one situation, the King County Board of Ethics took action during its June 28, 2004, meeting and changed its policy and procedures. It determined that an employee who serves on a county board or commission as part of his or her official job responsibilities, and files a disclosure statement as an employee, would not be required to file a second disclosure statement related to that board service. However, to ensure that employees knew they were also disclosing on matters related to their board service, each employee now had to state whether or not he or she served on a county board and, if so, had to name that board along with its related department. The employee form was redesigned to account for this additional disclosure requirement and the change was introduced in 2005. Both employee forms for 2004 and 2008 were provided for comparison. According to the executive director, the results of the change in policy and form included: a significant increase in form audits due to the fact that the vast number of employees (98.5%) are not affected by this requirement, and therefore simply leave the required response blank - despite extensive education efforts; an increase in employee frustration with seemly unreasonable and unnecessary reporting requirements; an increase in staff time related to audits for departments, the ethics office, and mail services; confusion by board and commission staff over whether or not certain members must file a member statement - or whether the affected individual might have already filed as an employee; as well as no additional benefit to the public or the county based on the additional reporting requirement. Following discussion, Rev. Pruitt moved that the ethics board and office return the policy and form to the 2004 standard to maintain clear, accurate and sensible reporting for all employees; and further, to maintain separate filing for employees and for board members to ensure clear-cut filing categories and precise record-keeping for the ethics disclosure program; Ms. Watanabe seconded the motion and the motion was unanimously adopted.
7. Statement of Principles. Mr. Toliver reported that Jim Buck, CAO and director of the Department of Executive Services, had set a meeting with the Washington Association of County Officials (WACO) director for July 8, 2008. The purpose of the meeting will be to plan a presentation by King County to WACO Board of Trustees on July 23 or 24, 2008, on the Statement of Principles. This represents progress and Ms. Clemens will report to the board as soon as more information becomes available. Board members stated their desire to attend the presentation and make comments and discussed the participation by former board members. Mr. Abrams agreed that such attendance would be alright if that individual spoke on their own behalf on not on behalf of the county or the Board of Ethics. It was decided to invite Dr. Margo Gordon to the presentation.
8. Staff Report. Staff informational response summary. The executive director issued 11 written staff informational responses (SIR) between May 8 and June 9, 2008, as requested by employees and elected officials of King County. Ethics issues addressed by the responses include: post-employment (2); attendance at events-acceptance of meals; conflict of interest with official position; board and commission - definitions (2); nepotism; consultant disclosure; and solicitations and donations (3). Ethics promotion and measurements through Human Resources Division. The Human Resources Division and office of the Board of Ethics are working collaboratively to help promote and measure ethical conduct throughout the county. Capitalizing on existing ethics requirements and current HR roles and duties, both agencies and hope to ensure high ethical standards for employees and elected officials through four achievable goals: (1) ensure the on-going ethics requirement for filing disclosure statements; (2) add an ethics component in annual evaluations; (3) include an ethics interview question for promotions and new positions; and (4) ensure ethical conduct through annual reporting on ethics violations. The board approved of these efforts and Ms. Clemens will report back as information becomes available. Response to King County Housing Authority request. The board's letter of response to the request for review was made available; no action was required or taken. Ninth Annual Board Reception. Ms. Clemens updated the board on the plans for the reception scheduled for Tuesday, September 9, 2008. Discussion on awards followed; no action was taken.
Ms. Watanabe moved and Rev. Pruitt seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting. The board unanimously approved the motion and the meeting was adjourned at 10:33 a.m.
Approved this 18th day of August, 2008, by the King County Board of Ethics.
Signed for the Board:__________________________________________________
Dr. Lois Price Spratlen, Chair
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