Board of Ethics

Chair Leslie Lawson called the meeting to order at 1:40 pm. Also present were Lori Mack, Leonard Plank and Ann Terry. Carolyn Lievers was absent.

1. It was moved, seconded and passed unanimously to approve the minutes of the April 27, 2006 Board of Ethics meeting.
2. Richard Rosenthal, the city’s Independent Monitor and Commander John Lamb of the Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau both described the functions of their offices and discussed how their offices could relate to the Board of Ethics regarding complaints concerning police officers. It was generally agreed that:

• If the Board of Ethics receives complaints regarding police officers which contain allegations not related to the Code of Ethics, the Board will either invite the complainant to forward the complaint to the Independent Monitor or to the Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau or forward the complaint directly.
• If the Independent Monitor or Internal Affairs Bureau receive complaints about police officers concerning Code of Ethics issues, they will consider forwarding such complaints to the Board of Ethics.

PLEASE NOTE that this agreement was modified on June 22, 2006 and refer to the minutes of that date for the entire agreement.

3. Denver Assessor John Ragan summarized his request for an advisory opinion concerning possible outside employment and/or subsequent employment and responded to questions from Board members.
4. Kelly Brough, the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Mayor, had a general discussion with the Board. She said that the Mayor sees the purposes of the Code of Ethics and the Board of Ethics as 1) elevating the discussion and visibility of ethics in city government; 2) providing a venue for discussion about ethics in city government and 3) providing clarity about the ethical expectations in city government.
5. Ms. Brough also discussed the Office of Accountability and Reform in the Mayor’s Office, which established bonus plans for city employees in 2006.
6. She also described the 311 call center program for the Denver city government, which will be implemented approximately July 7. She said that many major cities in the United States have such a program, but that Denver will be the first in Colorado. The purposes of the program are to enable citizens to find information or file complaints more easily and quickly regarding all city departments and agencies and also to improve safety by unburdening the 911 emergency call system and also to track the number of issues involving agencies and how they are resolved.
7. Ms. Brough also presented a request for a waiver on behalf of Michael Locatis, the city’s Chief Information Officer, regarding vendor-paid travel and lodging expenses to a conference in June
8. The Board approved a budget request for 2007 to be submitted to the Budget and Management Office by June 16, 2006 as well as an expansion request for $5000 for professional services to develop a curriculum for refresher ethics training for city employees
9. The Board unanimously elected Ann Terry to serve as Chair of the Board of Ethics for a one-year term and Lori Mack to serve as Vice Chair for a one-year term. The Board also thanked Leslie Lawson and Leonard Plank for their service as Chair and Vice Chair during the past year.
10. It was moved, seconded and passed unanimously to go into executive session to deliberate on Cases 06-12 through 06-17.
11. The Board adjourned at 4:00 pm following the executive session.

Respectfully submitted,

________________________
Michael Henry, Staff Director

Approved by Board of Ethics: June 22, 2006