One group that has done a good job of staying on top of things is Council’s Legislative & Finance Committee (L&F), composed of Councilman Leo Lombardo (chair) and Councilwomen Cathy Murphy and Lisa Stickan.
Unfortunately, L&F doesn’t always receive the cooperation from city administrators that it deserves.
That’s a real shame because the city—and city residents---are best served when there is good communication and collaboration between Council and the administration.
More on that below.
City Watch
Item One: Old Church Building (OCB) Demolition
Status: Asbestos Abated. Knock-down scheduled for Nov. 11thCity Engineer Steve Hovancsek reported that all of the asbestos materials had been removed and that Ace Demolition would start demolishing the building on Thursday November 11th. Now you see it, now you don’t…
Item Two: Legislation Covering the Use/Marking of City-Owned Vehicles
Status: L&F is still waiting to receive a copy of the proposed legislation.
Although L&F didn’t have a draft ordinance to review, it agreed that the ordinance (and city policy) should be guided by, and follow, IRS rules.
That means Police Chief Cook, Fire Chief Turner, and the top executive officer in both the police and fire departments will be allowed to take their city-owned vehicles home, without any restrictions on use, because their vehicles qualify as safety service command vehicles.
Service Director Thom Evans will also be allowed to continue to drive his city-owned vehicle home (as he has done for many years), but he will have to pay tax on his commuter-related use of the car and only “de minimus” personal use of the vehicle will be allowed.
Other employees, such as Building Commissioner Dale Grabfelder, will have access to city-owned vehicles while at work, but generally will not drive those vehicles home.
Item Three: Legislation Reconfiguring the City’s Economic Development Committee
Status: Still undergoing some final revisions, but council gave it a second reading. It will be ready for passage once Law Director Tim Paluf finishes tweaking it.
Two final changes were discussed. The number of citizen members has been increased to a maximum of five (from the original three) and the term will be for two years.
Council President Scott Mills reported that he’s had “lots of good interest” expressed by residents interested in serving on the Committee.
Item Four: Ethics/Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form
Status: Quiet Rebellion?
L&F has been waiting since July to receive a draft disclosure form from Finance Director Anthony Ianiro.
Council has been anxious to address the issue since being blind-sided and learning that former Park & Recreation Commission Chair Tony Valentino’s company acted as the city’s exclusive HVAC service provider for three years---an arrangement that Mayor Scott Coleman approved of, but that council was unaware of.
It’s not just ethics laws that are at issue. A city financial ordinance, HHts Ordinance § 117.04(b), requires Council's formal approval before any goods or services are purchased from, or supplied by, any elected or appointed city official. That didn’t happen in Tony Valentino's case. In fact, Council was apparently unaware that Valentino had a business interest in W.F. Hann & Sons or that the company was doing business with the city.
That’s where the disclosure form is supposed to come in. The best and most practical way to make sure that the ethics and financial laws are followed---and to avoid a repeat of the Valentino situation---is simply to require that city officials and employees annually disclose any business interests and affiliations that they (or their family members) have. That way everyone---Mayor Coleman, Finance Director Tony Ianiro, and Council----will be put on notice as to whether the special pre-approval requirements of § 117.04(b) apply.
A draft of that kind of disclosure form was what L&F expected to receive from Finance Director Tony Ianiro. Unfortunately, that is not what L&F got.
Ianiro apparently decided to completely bypass (i.e. end-run) Council. Displaying his trademark prickliness, Ianiro informed an astonished L&F on Tuesday night that he had already begun distributing what he titled a “Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form”---a Form that he chose not to share or discuss with L&F beforehand and which he insisted should be returned directly to him, rather than to the Clerk of Council.
Ianiro’s decision to bypass Council is disturbing enough, but his supposed disclosure Form is even more troubling. L&F members expressed several significant concerns about the Form. Among them:
- Ianiro decided that only elected and appointed officials should be required to fill out the disclosure Form, even though state and local ethics laws apply to both city employees and city officials.
- Ianiro’s Form is extremely limited in scope---so limited, in fact, it will not prevent a repeat of the Valentino situation. Rather than requiring employees and officials to list all of their business interests, so that any potential conflicts can be discovered and avoided before they occur, Ianiro’s Form only requires disclosure of business interests and/or affiliations with persons or entities that are “currently transacting or may enter into a transaction with the city” on the date that the Form is filled out. It is too late---way too late---for disclosure if an official is already doing business with the city.
And it is patently absurd to base the duty of disclosure on an official’s self-prediction as to whether they “may enter into a transaction with the city.” Whoops! Wrong guess? Never mind. - Ianiro’s Form also does not require additional disclosures as new business interests are acquired.
The cover letter that accompanies the Form states: “Should any situation change for you, you may of course complete another form.” Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows there’s a huge difference between “may” and “must” . The “may of course” language takes the disclosure obligation even further away from a requirement.
The “Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form” distributed by Finance Director Tony Ianiro has nothing to do with real disclosure, transparency or honest and open government. It amounts to little more than a false show of concern for our city’s ethics and finance laws. It certainly doesn’t reflect any real commitment on the part of either Mayor Coleman or Finance Director Ianiro to improve the city’s financial controls. It appears to be nothing more than a smoke and mirrors cover for conducting business as usual.
And so it goes. ...
