Posted on: Saturday, May 19, 2001

City Council tutored on ethics issues

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser City Hall Writer

An ethics workshop for City Council members and their staff raised questions about some issues that even the expert couldn't answer easily.

The training was prompted by City Councilwoman Rene Mansho's recent admissions of myriad city ethical violations. City Ethics Commission executive director Chuck Totto provided the ethics refresher course to Council members and their staff members.

Totto and Council chairman Jon Yoshimura agreed that some of the toughest questions involved community organizations. They also debated how much involvement is appropriate for Council staff members in community discussions such as vision teams and neighborhood boards.

Yoshimura said one of the issues is fund-raising for community organizations, such as telephone solicitations for donations. He said initial discussion indicates that is probably not a good idea for elected officials because of the potential for people being called to feel there is some "arm-twisting" taking place.

About 60 people attended the training at City Hall, including seven of nine Council members. The two missing were John Henry Felix, who is traveling in London; and John DeSoto, who had a previous commitment and expects to attend another session later.

In March, the city Ethics Commission concluded that Mansho misused her office by requiring staff to perform duties unrelated to city business while on the public payroll, and Mansho agreed to pay $40,000 reimbursement.