Fort Worth changes its ethics review commission
The Fort Worth City Council on Tuesday altered a citizen’s commission designed to review ethics issues.
Terms for the five members of the Ethics Review Commission had expired by October 2018. Rather than appoint new members, the council approved tweaking the commission so members are chosen at random from other city commissions and only when needed.
The city attorney’s office pitched the move, but it was not discussed publicly until Tuesday’s vote. The change assures a level of anonymity regarding who will hear ethics complaints and eliminates issues with expiring term limits, said City Attorney Sarah Fullenwider.
But Councilwoman Ann Zadeh, the lone no vote, called the change a step backward. She said the ethics commission should be re-imaged to be more proactive and engaged.
“I think that an ethics commission could meet quarterly to discuss ethics issues throughout the community and throughout the country and bring those ideas back to our city,” she said.
Mayor Betsy Price was absent from the vote.
The move does not disband the commission, which has not met since 2012.
Under the change, the ethics commission would convene only if a complaint is submitted to the city attorney’s office or if the City Council or manager makes a request. At that time, the city secretary will chose four members at random from the zoning, planning and adjustment boards. A fifth member, who must be an attorney, will be chosen by the City Council.
City employees have said interest in serving on commissions like the ethics review board have waned, but Zadeh said she heard from several people interested in serving. The city secretary’s office said four applications for the ethics commission have been received this year.
In 2010 the ethics commission sided with a complaint that alleged gas company employees were violating the city’s ethics code by serving on a pollution board. The council subsequently dismissed the commission members and named new ones who threw out the ethics complaint.
The commission’s rules were last changed in 2012. Since then, the city attorney was no longer required to testify before the commission unless summoned and not required to provide opinions on ethics complaints.
