Bastrop, Tx–The city council agreed earlier this month to select a citizen panel to advice them about whether and perhaps in what way to reinforce the ethics rules which govern council members as well as those who serve on official city boards, commissions and similar bodies.
A move last year by Council Member Julie Hart for the council itself to draft and consider additional rules met resistance among other council members who suggested they might not be in an unbiased position to propose rules to govern themselves.
Apart from state law, Bastrop apparently has no special ethics regulations, as many cities do.
The council decision to create an ethics advisory group also included two charges for the panel. First will be to decide if additional city rules are needed. If the answer is yes, the group will be asked to draft proposals for council consideration.
Hart has argued that Bastrop needs more specific rules to prevent or curtail a number of potential conflicts of interest , not addressed by state law, in conducting the city’s public business. Others, including Council Member Joe Beal, have suggested that detailed regulations may prove troublesome to follow and enforce and have little effect in the end on making sound public policy and decisions.
The topic could come up again as early as the Feb. 22 council meeting.
Tags: ethics rules