Lake Houston Sentinel - News
Citizen complaints prompt ethics ordinance discussion
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| At the behest of citizens, Baytown Mayor Stephen DonCarlos and city council discussed provivions of a possible ethics ordinance at a Jan. 8 council meeting. If passed, the ordinance will give a separate entity the authority to review complaints regarding alleged ethics violations by Baytown's elected officials and city staff. |
By JOSH HARDWICK
Baytown City Council began discussions Jan. 8 regarding adoption of a citywide ethics ordinance in response to citizens’ complaints about past alleged unethical actions on behalf of city officials.
The ordinance is being modeled after similar ones currently in use by city councils in Austin, San Antonio and Navasota.
Mayor Stephen DonCarlos outlined key guidelines of the proposed ordinance to the council Thursday, which he called a, “general policy statement” regarding the conduct of both elected officials and city staff.
The ordinance calls for a five-member commission that would be granted the power to investigate alleged ethics violations submitted by the citizenry and – if the violations are found to have merit – recommend appropriate disciplinary action.
DonCarlos said he has spoken with pastors from the Bay Area Ministerial Alliance who have agreed to select from amongst themselves five delegates to head up the ethics commission for two-year terms. The five delegates have yet to be named.
“I figured if there’s anyone in town that hopefully should not have prejudice, they would be the best group to pick from,” said the mayor.
Under one possible working of the proposed ordinance, citizens wishing to report an ethics violation will submit sworn statement in writing to the city clerk, who would then forward the grievance to the ethics commission for review.
If the commission determines that an elected official or city employee has acted unethically, it would then have the power to recommend appropriate disciplinary action.
Punishments range from a letter of admonition for minor or unintentional violations, an official reprimand or – in more grievous cases involving city employees – a recommendation for termination.
The commission would also have the option of referring serious ethical violations on behalf of elected officials to the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) or the Harris County District Attorney if the violations warrant criminal charges.
However, DonCarlos stressed that the actions of an ethics commission would not supersede a citizen’s right to pursue legal actions against an elected official or city employee.
“This does not take the place of someone filing a lawsuit against someone they believe they have been aggrieved by,” he said.
Ethics complaints questioning the behavior of city officials have been brought to the council’s attention numerous times at public hearings in past months, many of them delivered by former Baytown resident Artie Presley.
Presley, who currently resides in Oak Island, is president and founder of the non-partisan City Hall Watchdog organization and has been the de facto spokesman for Baytonians with grievances directed at city staff, particularly a series of alleged unethical actions on behalf of City Manager Garry Brumback.
In August Presley compiled a series of complaints from citizens and presented them to city council.
Among the complaints were allegations that Brumback used his office to hire a new assistant city manager as a personal favor without issuing a public notice of the job’s availability first.
Another complaint alleges that Brumback attempted to influence the May 2008 city council elections by threatening the relationship between the city and the Baytown Professional Firefighters Association (BPFA).
Incumbent Councilman Sammy Mahan was running against challenger David McCartney at the time when the BPFA chose to endorse McCartney by affixing a large 4’ x 8’ political sign onto their building in the 300 block of W. Texas Ave.
The complaint states that in April 2008 Brumback summoned BPFA President Mark Medrano to his city hall office during normal business hours and suggested that Medrano and the fire department might, “lose a friend” in former Councilman Mahan if the sign was not removed and Mahan were to win re-election.
Brumback could not be reached for comment at this time.
Nevertheless, the city is moving forward with plans to adopt an ethics ordinance that will give future complaints an appropriate recourse.
During the discussion District 2 Councilman Scott Sheley expressed approval toward the proposed ordinance’s provisions, many of which are modeled after the city of Austin’s ethics ordinance.
“It was a very holistic document. They concentrated on the positive portions of what ethics were and they taught it not only to their boards and commissions but to their employees as well,” he said. “Ethics is not a bad word and I think we’re all interested in a how it can help us.”
Speaking on behalf of City Hall Watchdog, Presley commended the council for taking the first steps toward giving citizens a more active role in judging the actions of its public officials.
“It’s a community problem the community should be involved in the solution,” he said. “I understand that being on the council is not a simple job and not everyone is going to like the decisions you make, but sweeping this under the rug is not the answer.”
City council will further discuss provisions of the ordinance at their next public meeting on Thursday, Jan. 22 while a finalized ordinance is scheduled for a vote next month.
The ordinance is being modeled after similar ones currently in use by city councils in Austin, San Antonio and Navasota.
Mayor Stephen DonCarlos outlined key guidelines of the proposed ordinance to the council Thursday, which he called a, “general policy statement” regarding the conduct of both elected officials and city staff.
The ordinance calls for a five-member commission that would be granted the power to investigate alleged ethics violations submitted by the citizenry and – if the violations are found to have merit – recommend appropriate disciplinary action.
DonCarlos said he has spoken with pastors from the Bay Area Ministerial Alliance who have agreed to select from amongst themselves five delegates to head up the ethics commission for two-year terms. The five delegates have yet to be named.
“I figured if there’s anyone in town that hopefully should not have prejudice, they would be the best group to pick from,” said the mayor.
Under one possible working of the proposed ordinance, citizens wishing to report an ethics violation will submit sworn statement in writing to the city clerk, who would then forward the grievance to the ethics commission for review.
If the commission determines that an elected official or city employee has acted unethically, it would then have the power to recommend appropriate disciplinary action.
Punishments range from a letter of admonition for minor or unintentional violations, an official reprimand or – in more grievous cases involving city employees – a recommendation for termination.
The commission would also have the option of referring serious ethical violations on behalf of elected officials to the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) or the Harris County District Attorney if the violations warrant criminal charges.
However, DonCarlos stressed that the actions of an ethics commission would not supersede a citizen’s right to pursue legal actions against an elected official or city employee.
“This does not take the place of someone filing a lawsuit against someone they believe they have been aggrieved by,” he said.
Ethics complaints questioning the behavior of city officials have been brought to the council’s attention numerous times at public hearings in past months, many of them delivered by former Baytown resident Artie Presley.
Presley, who currently resides in Oak Island, is president and founder of the non-partisan City Hall Watchdog organization and has been the de facto spokesman for Baytonians with grievances directed at city staff, particularly a series of alleged unethical actions on behalf of City Manager Garry Brumback.
In August Presley compiled a series of complaints from citizens and presented them to city council.
Among the complaints were allegations that Brumback used his office to hire a new assistant city manager as a personal favor without issuing a public notice of the job’s availability first.
Another complaint alleges that Brumback attempted to influence the May 2008 city council elections by threatening the relationship between the city and the Baytown Professional Firefighters Association (BPFA).
Incumbent Councilman Sammy Mahan was running against challenger David McCartney at the time when the BPFA chose to endorse McCartney by affixing a large 4’ x 8’ political sign onto their building in the 300 block of W. Texas Ave.
The complaint states that in April 2008 Brumback summoned BPFA President Mark Medrano to his city hall office during normal business hours and suggested that Medrano and the fire department might, “lose a friend” in former Councilman Mahan if the sign was not removed and Mahan were to win re-election.
Brumback could not be reached for comment at this time.
Nevertheless, the city is moving forward with plans to adopt an ethics ordinance that will give future complaints an appropriate recourse.
During the discussion District 2 Councilman Scott Sheley expressed approval toward the proposed ordinance’s provisions, many of which are modeled after the city of Austin’s ethics ordinance.
“It was a very holistic document. They concentrated on the positive portions of what ethics were and they taught it not only to their boards and commissions but to their employees as well,” he said. “Ethics is not a bad word and I think we’re all interested in a how it can help us.”
Speaking on behalf of City Hall Watchdog, Presley commended the council for taking the first steps toward giving citizens a more active role in judging the actions of its public officials.
“It’s a community problem the community should be involved in the solution,” he said. “I understand that being on the council is not a simple job and not everyone is going to like the decisions you make, but sweeping this under the rug is not the answer.”
City council will further discuss provisions of the ordinance at their next public meeting on Thursday, Jan. 22 while a finalized ordinance is scheduled for a vote next month.
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