Board of Ethics

Chair Ann Terry called the meeting to order at 1:35 pm. Also present were Lori Mack, Leslie Lawson and Carolyn Lievers. Leonard Plank was absent.

1. It was moved, seconded and passed unanimously to approve the minutes of the May 25, 2006 Board of Ethics meeting.

2. Staff Director Michael Henry presented the request of the Independent Monitor, Richard Rosenthal, that the agreement reported in the minutes of the May 25, 2006 Board of Ethics meeting between the city’s Independent Monitor and Commander John Lamb of the Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau and the Board of Ethics be modified as follows, (adding the second sentence under the first bullet):

• 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 Board of Ethics, after hearing, finds a violation of the Code of Ethics, that finding will be transmitted to the appointing authority.
• If the Independent Monitor or Internal Affairs Bureau receives complaints about police officers concerning Code of Ethics issues, they will consider forwarding such complaints to the Board of Ethics.

The Board agreed to this modification.

3. Don Cordova, Personnel Director of the Career Service Authority, who joined the city in January, 2006, introduced himself and some of his senior staff, Bruce Backer, Yvette Martinez and John Shick. He briefly described the functions of the administration, marketing and communications, benefits and classifications, recruiting, training and organizational development and employee relations divisions. He indicated that CSA wishes to be more visible and customer-centered.

4. Mike Watson and Steve Stroud of Telecommunications explained to the Board the new 311 call system and how it would affect the Board of Ethics. They indicated that the Board of Ethics would retain its phone number listing in the government pages of the phone directory.

5. Sgt. Bryan O’Neill of the Denver Police Department summarized his request for an advisory opinion regarding outside business activity and answered questions from Board members.

6. Commander John Lamb of the Denver Police Department summarized his request for an advisory opinion regarding potential changes to outside employment and responded to questions from members of the Board.

7. The Board discussed and adopted the following policy regarding timing and presentation of requests for advisory opinions or waivers:

The Board of Ethics wishes to give proper consideration to every request for an advisory opinion or waiver.

Therefore, the Board encourages anyone requesting an official advisory opinion or waiver to:
1. Submit the request in writing by letter or e-mail to the Staff Director of the Board of Ethics at least ten days before the monthly meeting of the Board of Ethics (on the fourth Thursdays of each month, except for November and December, when the meetings are on the third Thursdays). This will enable the Staff Director to gather information and prepare and mail a report to the members of the Board.
2. Attend the Board of Ethics meeting so that the person requesting the opinion or waiver may respond to any questions the Board members may have. If the person requesting the advisory opinion or waiver is doing so on behalf of another person, the requester should encourage the affected person to attend and respond to questions.
3. Exceptions may be made in case of justifiable emergencies.

8. The Board agreed to postpone until August 24 further consideration of the issue of a consistent policy for gifts to the city. The Board will invite interested organizations and individuals to comment to the Board about this issue.

9. It was moved, seconded and passed unanimously to go into executive session to deliberate on Cases 06-18 and 06-19.

10. The Board adjourned at 3:15 pm following the executive session.

Respectfully submitted,

________________________
Michael Henry, Staff Director

Approved by the Board of Ethics on July 27, 2006