To: City Council Economics and Neighborhood Development Committee Public Hearing
From: Lucy Gaskill-Gaddis, Seattle LWV
Date: August 17, 2006
TESTIMONY
My name is Lucy Gaskill-Gaddis representing the League of Women Voters of Seattle. The League supports an ethics code that ensures that public officials and employees and members of city boards and commissions perform their responsibilities in the public interest and in accordance with the highest ethical standards. A strong ethics code is necessary to increase citizen confidence in government.
The League of Women Voters supports the existing code of ethics. We believe the changes proposed by Mayor Nickels weaken the code and will further erode public support for city actions. While we agree that disclosure of potential conflicts of interest before a board or commission member takes office is a good idea, it should be added to the code, not used to replace recusal of a member when discussing an issue that has the potential to create a conflict of interest. We also believe that fines are an appropriate penalty for violations of the code.
The League of Women Votes does not see the ethics code as a barrier to recruiting members of the public to serve as a volunteer on the boards and commissions. We do encourage both the Mayor and Council members to broaden their search for volunteers in order to increase the diversity in background and experiences on these commissions. The appointment and confirmation process deserves more attention from both the Mayor and the City Council.
The League recommends that the City Council reject the proposed changes to the Ethics Code. Thank you for the opportunity to express our views to the Council.
