A. Creation And Purpose: There is hereby created an Independent Ethics Commission. The purpose of this Commission shall be to render written recommendations to City Council on ethics complaints and to issue written advisory opinions in response to inquiries for consideration.
B. Members: City Council shall appoint five (5) members to the Commission to serve staggered terms, who shall have expertise in ethical matters, acquired through education or experience. Two (2) alternates may be appointed pursuant to this City Code. Each member of the initial Commission shall serve at least one term and those initial terms shall be one, two (2) and three (3) years.
C. Term Of Appointment: The term of a Commission member following the initial terms shall be three (3) years.
D. Compensation: Members of the Commission shall be "volunteers" as defined by this Code and shall serve without compensation. Members may be reimbursed for reasonable expenses they incur by providing service to the Commission.
E. At Will: Each member of the Commission shall serve at the pleasure of City Council and shall be subject to the City Charter, particularly City Charter subsection 3-60(d) and section 9-10, the City Code, and the rules and procedures of City Council.
F. Majority Vote: The Commission shall make decisions/recommendations based upon a majority vote.
G. City Attorney: The City Attorney, or a designee of the City Attorney, shall be the chief liaison and legal advisor to the Commission, but shall have no vote. In the event the City Attorney is the subject of a pending complaint, City Council may, in its sole discretion, appoint outside counsel to serve as the legal advisor to the Commission, appoint a City employee not within the Office of the City Attorney to serve as Secretary to the Commission for the complaint against the City Attorney, and if necessary, appoint special counsel to prosecute allegations of ethics violations brought against the City Attorney.
H. Disqualification: Any member of the Commission shall disqualify himself or herself from participating in any matter before the Commission in which his or her impartiality might reasonably be questioned, including, but not limited to, instances where he or she has a substantial interest, a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of or involvement in disputed evidentiary facts concerning the matter. In that case, an alternate may sit in place of the disqualified member.
I. Subpoena Power: The Commission shall have the power to subpoena documents and witnesses, and to enforce such power by judicial action.
J. Rules Of Procedure: The Commission shall promulgate its own Rules of Procedure to be approved by City Council. (Ord. 11-18; Ord. 15-62; Ord. 16-122; Ord. 19-7)