Res 96-232
RESOLUTXON NO.
96-232
A RESOLUTXON OF THE CXTY COUNCXL OF THE CITY
OF FEDERAL WAY, WASHXNGTON, AMENDXNGTHE CODE
OF ETHICS FOR CITY COUNCIL, CITY MANAGER AND
CITY EMPLOYEES TO PROVIDE FOR THE APPOINTMENT
OF AN ALTERNATE MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF ETHICS,
AND TO PROVIDE FOR ADDXTIONAL TXME FOR THE
BOARD TO XNVESTXGATE COMPLAXNTS AND XSSUE
OPXNXONS (AMENDS RESOLUTXON NO. 91-54, NO. 94-
179, NO. 94-184, AND NO. 94-188).
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 provide for the
appointment of an alternate member except in instances where a
Board member is unavailable to conduct Board business; and
WHEREAS, the Board may occasionally require more than
fourteen (14) days fo complete and investigation and more than
seven (7) days to reach a decision, as is currently provided;
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 and one (1) alternate member ("first
alternate"), none of which shall be a city Councilmember
or City employee. The board members shall be appointed
by the City council. The alternate member mav attend all
meetinqs of the board. but shall have no votinq riqhts
RES #96-232
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except as otherwise orovided herein. 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. 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, the first
alternate member shall serve in his/her place. If a
second alternate member is reQuired. the Board shall
select such aft alternate member GRall Be seleeted from a
pool consisting of prior Board members who have served
during the three (3) prior terms ("second alternate").
'FHe methed fer determifliflg' \ffiioH ef tHe l'Irier Board
momaers te select sHall ae determifleà ay tHe Board. The
second alternate Board member shall be chosen bY
aqreement of the remaininq Board members. 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.
RES # 96-232
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
submi tter' s correct name, address at which
mail may be personally delivered to the
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RES # 96-232
submitter, and telephone number at
which the submitter may be
contacted.
2.
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
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 unless a lonqer time period
has been requested bv the Board and has been
approved bv the council; provided, however,
that the running of these time periods, shall
be tolled and the complaint proceedings shall
be stayed in the event the Board makes
application to the city council for' subpoena
power or in the event the city council issues
a subpoena and any person refuses to obey such
a subpoena. The stay of the complaint
proceedings shall continue until such time as
the subpoena is either issued or denied by the
city 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
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RES # 96-232
against whom the complaint was filed
has violated the Code of Ethics.
5.
The City council may issue subpoenas in
response to the Board's application for the
attendance and testimony of witnesses and the
production of documentary evidence relating to
any matter under investigation by the Board or
in connection with any hearing conducted by
the Board. The Board shall request subpoena
power by making a written application to the
Mayor and Deputy Mayor describing in detail
the subject matter of the proposed subpoena
and an explanation of why such information is
reasonably necessary in order to conduct the
Board's investigation or hearing. The
subpoena may be issued in the event the Mayor
and Deputy Mayor determine the subpoena
request is reasonable. In the event the Mayor
and Deputy Mayor are unable to agree upon such
a determination or the complaint alleges a
violation of the Ethics Code by the Mayor or
the Deputy Mayor, the entire city Council
shall make a determination as to the
reasonableness of the Board's application for
subpoena power. In the event any person
disobeys a subpoena, the City Council may
invoke the aid of any superior court of the
state. Such court may issue an order
requiring such person to appear before the
Board, to produce documentary evidence, and/or
to provide testimony, and any failure to obey
such order may be punished by that court as
contempt.
6.
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.
7.
A copy of the written opinion shalr be
delivered to the City Council and the
complaining party within seven (7) calendar
days of conclusion of the ißvcGti~atieß
hearinq unless a lonqer time period has been
requested bv the person aqainst whom the
complaint is focused, and has been approved by
the Board or unless a lonaer period has been
requested bY the Board and has been approved
bv the citv Council.
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RES # 96-232
8.
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.
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
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.
(b)
(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
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(d)
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.
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.
RES # 96-232
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section 2.
Severabilitv.
If any section,
sentence,
clause or phrase of this resolution should be held to be invalid or
unconstitutional
by
a
court
of
competent
jurisdiction,
such
invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity or
constitutionality of any other section, sentence, clause or phrase
of this resolution.
section 3.
Ratification.
Any act consistent with the
authority and prior to the effective date of the resolution is
hereby ratified and affirmed.
section 4.
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
7th
day of
May
, 1996.
CITY OF FEDERAL WAY
.
~L4 ¿y-
YOR, MARLON S. PRIEST
'5;T'
0-/\ J~
/ L-t<-M- ~~
CITY CLERK, N. CHRISTIN GREEN, CMC
RES # 96-232
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APPROVED AS TO FORM:
~ LO;~NDELL
FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK:
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL:
RESOLUTION NO.
04-30-96
05-07-96
96-232
K:\RESo\ETHICS2nd. ver
2-16-96(94-1870)
RES # 96-232
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