Board of Ethics

“Where People Count” 1000 Civic Center Drive, Niles, Illinois 60714 Telephone (847) 588-8000 ● Fax (847) 588-8051 ● TDD (847) 588-8059 Mayor Robert M. Callero Trustees MINUTES Kim S. Biederman James T. Hynes BOARD OF ETHICS Joe LoVerde Village Hall, Council Chambers Louella B. Preston Andrew Przybylo November 23, 2009 – 6:00 p.m. Alan Weel The Board of Ethics meeting was held on Monday, November 23, 2009, at the Village Village Manager Hall. The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chairman Joe LoVerde. George R. Van Geem Village Clerk Present: Also in Attendance: Marlene J. Victorine Trustee Joe LoVerde, Chairman Rob Kurfirst, Chairman of the Trustee Louella Preston Practices & Procedures Subcommittee Attorney Joseph Annunzio Chris Hanusiak, Chairman of the Attorney Mike Siegel Ethics Ordinance Subcommittee Michael Fries George Van Geem, Village Manager Approval of Minutes Mr. Fries made a motion, seconded by Trustee Preston to approve the minutes of the November 5, 2009, meeting; on voice vote all concurred. Trustee Preston asked that the minutes reflect that she abstained from voting on approval of the October 15, 2009, minutes because she was not present at the meeting. She also requested that, in the future, attachments be listed on page one of the minutes for easy reference. Review of Comments from Citizens Compliance Plan Committee regarding Sections 1-3 of Proposed Ethics Code Attorney Siegel stated that since the last meeting, Attorney Annunzio compiled the Board of Ethics questions on Sections 1-3 of the Proposed Ethics Code and presented them to the Citizens Compliance Plan Committee (CCPC). The CCPC met on November 17 to review and respond to the questions. Those comments will be reviewed at this meeting. Rob Kurfirst stated that the CCPC would like a written record of all the Ethics Code deliberations when presented to the Board of Trustees. Mr. Kurfirst prefers that the Board of Trustees see both the CCPC final version of the Proposed Ethics Code (draft 1) and the second version generated by the Board of Ethics (draft 2). www.vniles.com  Board of Ethics Meeting, November 23, 2009 It was agreed that the best way to review the comments from the CCPC would be to address them one-by-one. Attorney Siegel read the questions/comments from the Board of Ethics and then read the responses from the CCPC. The following issues remain unresolved and require further discussion:  Definition of “Citizen” (to be deferred to the Board of Trustees)  Ordinance amendment to change who chairs Citizens Compliance Plan Committee  Prohibited Political Activities paragraph (location in document to be determined – 3 options: take out of Definitions section and put in Section 6; leave in Definitions section and also put in Section 6; or put in its own section). Wording in Employee Handbook should be the same - Attorney Annunzio to follow-up on.  Disclosure of “all business interests” or only those involving “doing business directly or indirectly with the Village” – needs to be defined  Retaliatory Action – what is definition of Protected Activity? (to be deferred to the Board of Trustees)  Family member disclosure requirements for Boards, Commissions and Department Heads Attorneys Annunzio and Siegel will take these comments and prepare a working draft that will reflect the thoughts indicated at tonight’s meeting. These changes are not set in stone and can be changed at a later date if necessary. Trustee Preston requested that when changes are made to working draft 2 that the date those changes are made be indicated. Trustee Preston would like to see what was recommended at this meeting to be redlined into draft 2, not to indicate that it was accepted, but it will make it easier for everyone to see. The meeting minutes will reflect the discussion. Trustee Preston added that approving the minutes, does not infer that any of the changes discussed have been approved. There was concern regarding the cost of having the attorneys incorporate the changes into the draft Code, versus a secretary. Trustee Preston added that going forward we also need a decision from the Village Manager regarding who will prepare future minutes. Trustee LoVerde stated that it was his sense that the Village is going to address a budget for the Ethics Committee. He assumes there will be ongoing related costs to keeping the Ethics Committees and the Hotline going. Rob Kurfirst added that the CCPC decided that they would like to see the completed Board of Ethics draft 2 and take a non-binding vote among their member to show what degree of support it has within their Committee. For the record, there were 10-12 members at the CCPC meeting that reviewed these first set of questions. Attorney Siegel attended that meeting and added that the CCPC discussed each of these policy issues in a thoughtful and intelligent way and he is impressed with the work that they have done. Rob Kurfirst is thankful that the Village made room for citizen input in this whole process. Chairman LoVerde stated that to keep the process moving, Section 4 - Conflicts of Interest and Standards of Conduct and Section 5 - Gift Ban will be dealt with in the same manner as 1-3. The Board of Ethics will send their comments and the CCPC will respond. All agreed. Chairman LoVerde added that as the changes are made they will share those changes with the CCPC; so that prior to the final document going up to the Village Board, the CCPC will be involved in every step of the process. On the same note, when the draft Code of Ethics is presented to the Board of Trustees, he wants them to see the whole sequence of events and understand where the Ethics Code 2  Board of Ethics Meeting, November 23, 2009 started, all the dates, discussions, minutes, and meetings in between with the Board of Ethics and the CCPC. 7:05 p.m. Mike Fries left the meeting. Mr. Hanusiak suggested that for the next round of review, when the subcommittee comes back with their comments on 4 and 5, the Attorneys should make a redline version of 4 and 5 so that it is easier to follow. They all agreed. Attorney Siegel suggested having an annotated version of the draft, including footnotes for each change explaining what the subcommittee said and what the Board said and their rationale, so they can have the benefit of the discussions without flipping through multiple documents. Mr. Kurfirst stated that for the public’s benefit, comments submitted by the CCPC have been added to the minutes of the CCPC. The following schedule was set: December 10 – Board of Ethics comments on Sections 4 and 5 due to CCPC December 15 – CCPC meeting to review comments January 7 – Board of Ethics meeting to review CCPC responses Other Business Mr. Hanusiak asked if any calls have been received on the Hotline and how will the CCPC subcommittees be able to find out if the process is working properly. Attorney Annunzio read from his Hotline log and stated that there been four complaints since its inception and there are no outstanding complaints at the moment. No action has been taken on any of the complaints. Chairman LoVerde will present a monthly Ethics Report, including Hotline activity, at the Board of Trustees meetings. The Open Workshop for the Board of Trustees originally scheduled for December 5 has been postponed and will be rescheduled at a later date. Executive Sesssion None. Next Meeting Date January 7, 2010 Motion to adjourn was made by Trustee Preston, all concurred and the meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m. Marlene J. Victorine Village Clerk 3