Res 94-184
RESOLUTION NO.
94-184
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF FEDERAL WAY, WASHINGTON, AMENDING THE CODE
OF ETHICS FOR CITY COUNCIL, CITY MANAGER AND
CITY EMPLOYEES TO PROVIDE SUBPOENA POWER TO
THE BOARD OF ETHICS AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE
STAY OF THE COMPLAINT PROCEEDINGS (AMENDS
RESOLUTION NO. 91-54 AND NO. 94-179).
WHEREAS, the City of Federal Way previously adopted the
Code of Ethics in order to insure that the City operate and conduct
itself in an open and impartial manner, and to a standard that
insures an efficient, fair and accountable system; and
WHEREAS, the Code of Ethics does not grant the Board of
Ethics subpoena powers in order for the Board to complete a full
and fair investigation of any written complaint before the Board;
and
WHEREAS, the Code of Ethics does not provide for the stay
of the complaint proceedings during the ci ty Council's
consideration of the Board of Ethics application for subpoena power
or during any proceeding to compel a person to respond to a
properly issued subpoena; NOW, THEREFORE,
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FEDERAL WAY, WASHINGTON,
-DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
section 1. Amendment.
is hereby amended as follows:
section 7 of Resolution No. 91-54
section 7. Complaint Aqainst a Councilmember and
Advisorv Opinions Reqardinq councilmembers - Board of
Ethics.
A. There is created a Board of Ethics for the City
of Federal Way. The purpose of this Board of Ethics is
to issue advisory opinions on the provisions of this Code
of Ethics and to investigate and report to the City
Council on any alleged violations of this Code of Ethics,
all as set forth below.
B. The Board of Ethics shall be composed of three
(3) members, none of which shall be a City Councilmember
or city employee. The board members shall be appointed
by the City Council. The term of each board member shall
be three (3) years. The first three members shall be
appointed for one, two or three year terms respectively.
RES # 94-184
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COpy
The first chair of the Board shall be determined by the
council and the Chair shall be appointed to the three
year term. The other terms are to be determined by lot.
After the first year of the Chair's term, the Board shall
determine and elect its Chair thereafter. The Chair
shall serve for a period of one year, unless reelected.
In the event a Board member must recuse himself or
herself or otherwise be unavailable to conduct Board
business, an alternate member shall be selected from a
pool consisting of prior Board members who have served
during the three (3) prior terms. The method for
determining which of the prior Board members to select
shall be determined by the Board. In the event no former
Board members are available, the city Council shall
appoint an alternate Board member. In filling any
vacancy or making an appointment to the Board of Ethics,
the city Council shall strive to select members with
diverse perspectives and areas of expertise appropriate
to the review of ethical matters, and who are of good
general reputation and character.
C. A majority of the Board of Ethics shall
constitute a quorum. The Board shall meet as frequently
as it deems necessary and in accordance with the
provisions of the Code. The Board shall adopt procedures
consistent with the provisions of this Code governing the
conduct of its meetings, investigations, hearings and the
issuance of opinions.
2.
RES # 94-184
D.
Specific Complaint Against a Councilmember.
1.
Any person may submit a written complaint to
the City Clerk alleging one or more violations
of this Ethics Code by a Councilmember. The
allegation must set forth specific facts with
precision and detail, sufficient for a
Determination of Sufficiency by the Board. In
addition, the complaint must set forth the
specific sections and subsections of this Code
that the facts violate, and the reasons why.
Each complaint must be signed by the person or
persons submitting it, must state the
submitter's correct name, address at which
mail may be personally delivered to the
submitter, and telephone number at which the
submitter may be contacted.
The City Clerk shall submit that complaint to
the Board for Determination of Sufficiency of
the complaint. A complaint cannot be
sufficient unless it precisely alleges and
describes unjustified acts which constitute a
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RES # 94-184
prima facie showing of a violation of a
specified provision or provisions of this
Code. The purpose of requiring that the
complaint be sufficient is to ensure that the
complaint is supported by identifiable facts,
and to ensure that the complaint is not based
on frivolous charges.
3.
The Board shall submit a written report with a
finding of sufficiency or insufficiency within
ten (10) days of its receipt of the written
complaint. The Determination of Sufficiency
by the Board is final and binding, and no
administrative or other legal appeal is
available. If the finding is one of
sufficiency of the complaint, then the
complaint shall be investigated and reported
as set forth below.
4.
The Board shall conduct an investigation of
the written complaint before it. The Board
shall begin the investigation no later than
ten (10) calendar days after the Determination
of Sufficiency of the complaint and shall
conclude the investigation no later than
fourteen (14) calendar days after it commences
the investigation; provided. however. that the
runnina of these time periods shall be tolled
and the complaint proceedinas shall be staved
in the event the Board makes application to
the citv Council for subpoena power or in the
event the citv Council issues a subpoena and
anv person refuses to obey such a subpoena.
The stav of the complaint proceedinas shall
continue until such time as the subpoena is
either issued or denied bv the Citv Councilor
until such time as a superior court issues an
order on the subpoena. The Board shall render
a written opinion, setting forth its findings
of fact and conclusions and opinion as to
whether or not the individual against whom the
complaint was filed has violated the Code of
Ethics.
The citv Council may issue subpoenas in
resPonse to the Board I s application for the
attendance and testimonv of witnesses and the
production of documentarv evidence relatina to
anv matter under investiaation bv the Board or
in connection with anv hearina conducted bv
the Board, The Board shall request subpoena
power bv makinq a written application to the
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RES # 94-184
Mavor and Deputv Mavor describinq in detail
the subiect matter of the proposed subpoena
and an explanation of why such information is
reasonablY necessarv in order to conduct the
Board's investiqation or hearinq. The
subpoena mav be issued in the event the Mayor
and Deputv Mavor determine the subpoena
request is reasonable. In the event the Mavor
and Deputv Mavor are unable to aaree upon such
a determination or the complaint alleaes a
violation of the Ethics Code bv the Mavor or
the Deputv Mavor. the entire ci tv Council
shall make a determination as to the
reasonableness of the Board's application for
subpoena power. In the event anv person
disobevs a subpoena. the ci tv Council mav
invoke the aid of anv superior court of the
state. Such court mav issue an order
reauirina such person to appear before the
Board. to produce documentarv evidence. and/or
to provide testimonv. and anv failure to obev
such order mav be punished bv that court as
contempt.
No opinion may be issued by the Board unless a
person or entity complained against has had an
opportunity to present information on his, her
or its behalf at a hearing before the
Committee.
A copy of the written opinion shall be
delivered to the City Council and the
complaining party within seven (7) calendar
days of conclusion of the investigation.
In the event the advisory written opinion
provides that the individual against whom the
complaint has been filed has violated the Code
of Ethics and the city Councilmembers adopt
this opinion by a majority vote, then the City
Council may take any of the following actions
by a majority vote of the Council:
(a)
Admonition. An admonition shall be a
verbal non-public statement made by the
Mayor to the individual.
(b)
Reprimand. A reprimand shall be
administered to the individual by letter.
The letter shall be prepared by the city
Council and shall be signed by the Mayor.
If the individual objects to the content
of such letter, he or she may file a
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RES # 94-184
(d)
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request for review of the content of the
letter of reprimand with the City
Council. The City Council shall review
the letter of reprimand in light of the
advisory opinion and the request for
review, and may take whatever action
appears appropriate under the
circumstances. The action of the City
Council shall be final and not subject to
further review.
(c)
Censure, A censure shall be a written
statement administered personally to the
individual. The individual shall appear
at a time and place directed by the city
Council to receive the censure. Notice
shall be given at least 20 days before
the scheduled appearance at which time a
copy of the proposed censure shall be
provided to the individual. Within 5
days of receipt of the notice, the
individual may file a request for review
of the content of the proposed censure
with the City Council. Such a request
will stay the administration of the
censure. The City Council shall review
the proposed censure in light of the
advisory opinion and the request for
review, and may take whatever action
appears appropriate under the
circumstances. The action of the City
Council shall be final and not subject to
further review. If no such request is
received, the censure shall be
administered at the time and place set.
It shall be given publicly, and the
individual shall not make any statement
in support of or in opposition thereto or
in mitigation thereof. A censure shall
be deemed administered at the time it is
scheduled whether or not the individual
appears as required.
Removal. In the event the individual
against whom the complaint has been filed
is a member of a city Board, Commission,
Committee, or other multi-member bodies
appointed by the city Council, the City
Council may, by a majority vote, remove
the individual from such Board,
Commission or Committee; provided,
however, that nothing in this section
authorizes the city Council to remove a
Councilmember from his or her office. In
the event the individual against whom the
complaint has been filed is a
Councilmember, the City Council, by a
majority vote, may remove the individual
from the position of Mayor or Deputy
Mayor and the Mayor may remove such
individual from the position of
Chairperson of any Council Committees.
E. The Board of Ethics may also render written
opinions concerning the applicability of the Code of
Ethics to hypothetical circumstances or situations upon
the request of any person.
I
F. The City shall release copies of any written
advisory opinions or opinions resulting from an
investigation of a complaint and any written censures or
reprimands issued by the City Council in response to
public records requests as consistent with Chapter 42.17
RCW and any other applicable public disclosure laws.
G. The City Manager shall provide staff, as he or
she deems appropriate, to assist the Board of Ethics.
H, Board members shall be reimbursed by the city
for reasonable expenses incurred in its exercise of the
official business of the Board, consistent with the
expense reimbursement policies of the city.
section 2. Effective Date. This resolution shall be
effective immediately upon passage by the Federal Way City Council.
RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FEDERAL WAY,
WASHINGTON, this ~ day of September , 1994.
CITY OF FEDERAL WAY
MA~~Y r ~~
ATTEST:
~~~
-~CIT CLERK, MAUREEN M. SWANEÝ,
RES # 94-184' , Page 6
CMC
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
~UNV~
FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK:
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL:
RESOLUTION NO. 94-184
September 13,1994
September 21,1994
RES\ETHICS.2
RES #
94-184 , Page 7