Haines Borough staff overhauled the 26-page conflict of interest code after a familial conflict from manager Debra Schnabel’s hire brought inconsistencies to light.
Elected and appointed officials are expected to disclose when they are being called upon to make decisions that are intertwined with private business dealings or other personal interests. Officials will often refrain from voting on or discussing those topics.
The borough was unable to contract with Southeast Roadbuilders after Schnabel was hired because the company was owned by Schnabel’s brother.
The borough assembly reviewed the amendments made by borough clerk Julie Cozzi and deputy clerk Alekka Fullerton at a Jan. 15 committee of the whole meeting.
“This ordinance is a strong effort to streamline the code by pulling together scattered codes of conduct and combining them with conflict of interest,” Fullerton said.
Assembly members took issue with code relating to political endorsements while in office and stock investments that should be divulged.
The code states, “A borough officer may not take an active part in a non-borough sanctioned political campaign or other political activity when on duty. Nothing herein shall be construed as preventing such officers from exercising their voting franchise, contributing to a campaign or candidate of their choice, or expressing their political views when not conspicuously representing the borough. Similarly, any borough official may not take an active part in a political campaign or other political activity during an official meeting.”
Assembly member Brenda Josephson said she disagreed that assembly members should be barred from endorsing a particular person for office.
“All day long elected officials are endorsing other people running for office,” Josephson said. Josephson and assembly member Tom Morphet suggested the staff define “on duty,” and “conspicuously representing the borough.”
“I think you’re going to run into a problem if you try to define ‘on duty,’” Schnabel said. She argued that borough officials are always “on duty” in a small town, even outside of conducting official borough business.
“We have to be careful because (the assembly) still has first amendment rights,” Fullerton said. “But I still don’t think someone should endorse a candidate during an assembly meeting.”
“Maybe it’s not a good idea to be an assembly member and be someone else’s campaign manager, to take a super active part,” Cozzi said. Josephson argued doing that was still a first amendment right.
“We are by definition politicians. So to tell a politician you can’t be political is not logical,” Josephson said.
The assembly also requested a change in code that required officials to declare investments in stock for corporations which the person had a “controlling interest.”
“I’m only really concerned about people having conflicts here in the valley,” Morphet said. “We should say based in or operating in the Haines Borough.”
Schnabel said the policy could cause the borough to lose people who are interested in running for a committee or borough seat because they do not want to disclose stock investments.
Josephson said she was interested in hearing about a conflict in which someone had less than a “controlling interest” in a corporation.
Assembly members agreed on changing the language to read, “an owner of more than thirty percent of the stock.”
The revised conflict of interest and code of conduct code will go before the assembly at its next meeting.