As a follow-up to a Council Initiative by Council Member Cromley, in early 2016 a legal memorandum and related work session presentation were submitted to the Mayor and Council concerning the City's current ethics ordinances. There was extensive discussion by the Council as to the comparison between the City ethics ordinances and the State of Montana ethics statutes covering local elected and appointed government officials.  As a result of this work session presentation and Council discussion, Council Member Cromley made a subsequent second Council Initiative to have staff draft and present an ordnance which would amend and largely repeal the City's ethics ordinances and rely instead upon the Montana Code Annotated statues that provide detailed ethical rules and enforcement procedures. An Ethics Board meeting was held in late December 2016 where a rough draft of proposed changes was presented to and discussed by the Board. On a 3-0 vote, the Ethics Board is recommending that the Council approve the attached ordinance on First Reading, which is attached here as Attachment A.

Also attached is the  document which the Ethics Board discussed which compares the City's current ethics ordinances with the corresponding State statutes. This assists the Council in directly comparing the ordinances with the State statutes. This document is labeled as Attachment B.

The previous legal memorandum and PowerPoint presentation submitted to the Council in early 2016 are also included as Attachments C and D respectively.

↵City Council may:

• Approve the draft Ordinance on First Reading, or
• Amend the draft Ordinance on First Reading, or
• Disapprove the draft Ordinance on First Reading

There is no foreseeable financial costs to the City if the Council adopts the State statutes concerning ethical rules and enforcement for local public elected and appointed officials.

Staff recommends that the City Council conduct a public hearing and approve the proposed Ordinance on First Reading which amends and repeals the City's ethics ordinances and in the future rely upon and utilize the ethical rules in the Montana Code Annotated.