MONTICELLO – Sullivan County officials and department heads and the Board of Ethics have been working for some time on more clearly defining the county’s ethics provisions.
The Board of Ethics, revived three years ago, is recommending 20 changes. Most deal with procedures to follow when an individual has made an ethics complaint, said County Attorney Cheryl McCausland.
“It’s to set forth specific timelines and what is to remain confidential and what can be disclosed,” McCausland said.
A second change would prohibit a former legislator from leaving office then quickly seeking an appointed county government position.
“That primarily was to deal with the public’s perception that you become a legislator and then a few years after you’re a legislator you come back and you’re appointed to a county position.”
The proposed time limit is two years.
The legislature also approved appointments to five Board of Ethics vacancies caused by resignations. The terms expire, one in 2017, two in 2019 and two in 2020.
One of the amendments indirectly addresses the issue of people resigning from long terms. Another key change would be to set a nine-year maximum for Ethics Committee members. That takes into account the possibility of a person being appointed to fill the remainder of a vacated term then serving two three-year terms.
A public hearing on October 20th, prior to the regular monthly legislative session.
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