After a year
’s hard work, eight city officials and citizens will present a
formal structure for ethical behavior to the City Council for
approval Wednes9day night.
After a year’s hard work, eight city officials and citizens will present a formal structure for ethical behavior to the City Council for approval Wednes9day night.
“We’ve needed this for many years,” said Mayor Dennis Kennedy. “Ethics have been the subject of growing concern for years – in San Jose and elsewhere. It was time.”
The policy revolves around five core values: honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness and loyalty. Along with short descriptions of the core values, the policy expands each value with an example of positive and negative behavior.
In the suggested policy, an example of honesty is: “I am honest with my fellow elected officials, the public and others.”
Other examples are:
n A positive honest behavior is encouraging open discussion, fully disclosing interests and motivations for raising an issue, acknowledging past mistakes and attempting to correct them.
n Negative (honest) behavior is described as being elusive and indirect, misrepresenting the motives behind a decision.
Led by Kennedy and Councilman Steve Tate, the committee included City Manager Ed Tewes, City Attorney Helene Leichter, and citizens Roger Knopf, Brittany Bach, John Liegl and Robert Escobar.
Knopf said he was pleased with the policy.
“You have to start somewhere and here we start at the top,” Knopf said Monday.
City Council and/or the Redevelopment Agency meets at 7 p.m. most Wednesdays in City Hall Chambers, 17555 Peak Ave. Details: www.morganhill.ca.gov or 779-7271. Council meetings are broadcast live on cable access channel 17.
