Department of the City Attorney's Office
Reference: Proposed Updates to the Ethics Code
To: Mayor Gregory Mills and Members of City Council
Through: Michael Martinez, City Manager
Prepared By: Alicia Calder?n, City Attorney
Date Prepared: May 2, 2022
PURPOSE
To review proposed updates to the Ethics Code primarily to assure home rule independence by adding a process for reviewing complaints and conducting an independent hearing on those complaints.
BACKGROUND
The City of Brighton is a home rule municipality. In 2006, a majority of the voters in the state passed an initiative to promote ethics in government. This became Article XXIX of the State Constitution. Article XXIX Section 7 states that "Any county or municipality may adopt ordinances or charter provisions with respect to ethics matters that are more stringent than any of the provisions contained in this article. The requirements of this article shall not apply to home rule counties or home rule municipalities that have adopted charters ordinances, or resolutions that address the matters covered by this article." For a number of years, all home rule municipalities that had adopted an ethics code were exempt from Article XXIX and the statewide Independent Ethics Commission. In 2016, the Independent Ethics Commission (IEC) issued Position Statement 16-01 finding that for a home rule entity to be considered as having addressed the matters in Article XXIX, the ordinance must address certain areas: gift ban limits and exceptions, an independent commission or independent model to address complaints, a complaint investigation and enforcement process, penalty provisions, and a process for covered individuals to seek ethical guidance.
While a couple home rule entities challenged the IEC Position Statement in individual complaint processes, no court has clearly overruled this Position Statement. Weld County was found to lack a complaint process for members of the general public and penalties. The IEC found t...
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