Approved Minutes — original pdf

Approved Minutes

ETHICS REVIEW COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 28, July, 2022 ETHICS REVIEW COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, May 25, 2022 The Ethics Review Commission (“Commission”) convened in a regular meeting on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, Austin, Texas. Chair Soberon called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m. Location: City Hall, Room 1101, 301 W 2nd Street, Austin, Texas and via Videoconference Commissioners in Attendance: Chair Luis Soberon, Vice-Chair Mary Kahle, Secretary Nguyen Stanton, and Commissioners: Debra Danburg, Betsy Greenberg, Michael Lovins, Donna Beth McCormick, Mikki Teneyuca, and Sidney Williams. Commissioner Danburg attended via videoconference. Members Absent: Commissioner Raafia Lari Vacancy: Mayor’s nominee City Staff in Attendance: Lizette Benitez, Staff Liaison; Lynn Carter, Commission Executive Liaison & Assistant City Attorney; Tara Olson, Marketing Communications Consultant, Communications & Public Information Office. Ms. Olson attended via videoconference. PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL (formerly CITIZEN COMMUNICATION) Each person who signed up to speak prior to the meeting being called to order and who designated this item on which to speak, or who did not designate an agenda item on which to speak will be allowed three minutes to speak No one registered to speak during Public Communication. 1. NEW BUSINESS Discussion and possible action regarding the following: a. City Council Candidate Forum Planning and Update. b. Working groups and possible reassignment of subject matters to working groups. c. Ethics Code Overview of Section 2-7-62 (Standards of Conduct) and conflict of interest provisions, Section 2-7-63, 2-7-64, and 2-7-65, and Section 2-7-2 (Definitions). Item 1(a): Tara Olson briefed the Commission on the Candidate Forum Planning, including outreach through press releases, the City website, and social media platforms; livestreaming of the moderated candidate forum in English and Spanish; closed captioning for American Sign Language (ASL); requests for other language interpretation can be submitted five business days prior to the candidate forum by calling 311. The Commission also has the 1 ETHICS REVIEW COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES option of reaching out to the Language Access Coordinator for translation services/language interpretation. 28, July, 2022 Item 1(b): Chair Soberon made a motion to rename and re-task the Working Group on Sanctions, Procedures, and Other Issues (Membership: Chair Soberon and Commissioners Greenberg, Secretary Stanton, and Teneyuca) as described on agenda item 2(d)(i), be limited by subject matter to potential amendments to City Code Chapter 2-7 and the Commission Rules of Procedure. Commissioner Greenberg seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote of all members present (9-0). Voting in favor: Chair Soberon, Vice-Chair Kahle, Secretary Stanton, and Commissioners: Danburg, Greenberg, Lovins, McCormick, Teneyuca, and Williams. Commissioner Lari was absent, and the Commission has one vacancy. Item 1(c): Commission Executive Liaison, Lynn Carter, gave a partial presentation, which will be continued at one or more future meetings. 2. OLD BUSINESS Discussion and possible action regarding the following: a. Review and evaluation of the dollar limits established in Chapter 2-2 (Campaign Finance) and consider making recommendations to the city council as to those limits. b. Statement and/or Video of What the Commission Does & How the Public can use the Commission and Statement on Equity, Access, and the Need for Reform by the Working Group on Race, Identity, and Equity c. Content of the agenda for future meetings, including description of Commission’s jurisdiction and/or functions. d. Working group status reports and/or recommendations on the following. i. Working Group on Sanctions, Procedures, and other Issues (Chair Soberon and Commissioners Greenberg, Secretary Stanton, and Teneyuca) on the following subjects: - Commission sanctions including effectiveness, past cases, and recommendations. - Potential amendments to City Code, Chapter 2-7 (Ethics and Financial - Commission procedures including effectiveness, past cases, and Disclosure). recommendations. - Scope of work of the Commission (powers, duties, and obligations), including effectiveness, past cases, and recommendations. - Potential amendments to the Rules of the Ethics Review Commission. - Best practices for city attorney opinions including effectiveness, past cases, and recommendations. - Dollar Limits in Chapter 2-2 (Campaign Finance Code) 2 ETHICS REVIEW COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 28, July, 2022 ii. Working Group on Race, Identity, and Equity (Commissioners Kahle, Lari, and Soberon) status report and/or recommendations on: addressing issues of race, identity, and equity including: (i) (ii) planning for presentations or trainings by the Equity Office; helping focus the Commission’s evaluation of racial injustice and how the Commission can operate more fairly and effectively in light of racial injustice. Item 2(a): No action was taken on this agenda item. Item 2(b): Vice-Chair Kahle presented a draft media piece and received feedback from other commissioners. Chair Soberon made a motion to recompose the Working Group on Race, Identity, and Equity to include Vice-Chair Kahle, Secretary Stanton, and Commissioners Lari and McCormick. The motion was seconded by Vice-Chair Kahle. The motion passed on a unanimous vote of all members present (9-0). Voting in favor: Chair Soberon, Vice-Chair Kahle, Secretary Stanton, and Commissioners: Danburg, Greenberg, Lovins, McCormick, Teneyuca and Williams. Commissioner Lari was absent, and the Commission has one vacancy. Item 2(c): No action was taken on this agenda item. Item 2(d)(i): No action was taken on this agenda item. Item 2(d)(ii): No action was taken on this agenda item. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: APRIL 27, 2022 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Discussion and possible action regarding the minutes for the April 27, 2022 Regular Commission meeting. Secretary Stanton recommended amending the draft minutes to include changes to punctuation, spelling, and titles for commissioners and working groups. Commissioner Greenberg made a motion to approve the minutes as amended. Commissioner Lovins seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote of all members present (9-0). Voting in favor: Chair Soberon, Vice-Chair Kahle, Secretary Stanton, and Commissioners: Danburg, Greenberg, Lovins, McCormick, Teneyuca, and Williams. Commissioner Lari was absent, and the Commission has one vacancy. 4. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Future agenda items and announcements were addressed including a potential future agenda item of the City Clerk’s templates for the agenda and minutes. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. 3 ETHICS REVIEW COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES The minutes were approved at the July 27, 2022 Regular Commission meeting on Secretary Stanton’s motion, Commissioner Lovins seconded on a 8-0 vote. Vice-Chair Kahle, and Commissioner Lari were absent. 28, July, 2022 4