Minutes - Regular Meeting - 7/23/1997 Y 4
July 23,1997
The Ethics Review Commission of the City of Round Rock, Texas met on
Wednesday, July 23, 1997 at 7:00 p.m. in the City Council Chamber, 221 East Main
Street.
Joanne Land, Assistant City Manager/City Secretary, chaired the meeting until
the Interim Chair was appointed.
ROLL CALL: Those members present were Commissioners Carol Chafin,
Robert Griffith, Frederick Ort, and Berry Sullivan. Also present was the Special
Counsel for the Ethics Review Commission Barney Knight.
ADMINISTER OATH OF OFFICE TO THE NEW MEMBERS: Each Commission
member read and signed the appropriate Statement of Appointment and Oath of Office
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documents.
ELECTION OF INTERIM CHAIR: Ms. Land noted that there were three
vacancies on the Ethics Review Commission and the Council was scheduled to fill those
vacancies at their meeting on July 24th. An Interim Chair and .Interim Vice-Chair
needed to be appointed until there was a full complement of the Commission. Ms.
Land opened the floor for nominations for Interim Chair.
Commissioner Griffith nominated Berry Sullivan for the position of Interim
Chair. Commissioner Ort seconded the nomination. No other nominations were made.
MOTION: Commissioner Griffith moved that Berry Sullivan be appointed as
Interim Chair by acclamation. Commissioner Ort seconded the motion.
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=� VOTE: Ayes: Commissioner Chafin
Commissioner Griffith
Commissioner Ort
Commissioner Sullivan
Noes: None
ACTION: The motion carried unanimously.
Ms. Land turned the Chair over to Interim Chairman Sullivan.
ELECTION OF INTERIM VICE-CHAIR: Chairman Sullivan opened the floor
for nominations for Interim Vice-Chair.
MOTION: Commissioner Griffith nominated and moved that Frederick Ort be
appointed as Interim Vice-Chair by acclamation. Commissioner Chafin seconded the
motion.
VOTE: Ayes: Commissioner Chafin
Commissioner Griffith
Commissioner Ort
Commissioner Sullivan
Noes: None
ACTION: The motion carried unanimously.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Tune 2, 1997
Commissioner Chafin stated that she would need to abstain from acting upon the
minutes for personal and ethical reasons.
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Barney Knight advised the Commission that four (4) or more members constitute
a quorum and four (4) or more votes were needed to take action on items. Therefore,
this item had to be addressed after additional members were appointed.
CONSIDER DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMISSION
CONCERNING DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Ms. Land suggested that this item
be addressed during an orientation meeting and after the three vacancies on the
Commission were filled. If the Commission desired, a separate meeting could be held
to address the pending preliminary hearing.
The Commissioners gave their consensus to delay this item until the vacancies on
the Commission were filled.
CONSIDER PRELIMINARY HEARING TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT
REASONABLE GROUNDS EXIST FOR THE COMMISSION TO HOLD A FINAL
HEARING ON THE COMPLAINT FILED BY DENNIS GRAFFIOUS AGAINST ROD
MORGAN. Commissioner Chafin declared that she needed to abstain on this item for
personal and ethical reasons.
Commissioner Ort pointed out that the submission of the complaint was flawed
because the signature date was shown as the 7th day of July, 1999. He added that it was
probably a technical oversight but the Commission should address documents that
were technically correct.
MOTION: Commissioner Ort moved that the complaint be rejected without
prejudice because it was flawed in that the signature date was shown as the 7th day of
July, 1999 and to allow the complainant to resubmit his complaint at a later date.
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-�� After requesting permission to address the Commission, Dennis Graffious, the
complainant, responded that it was a technical error and asked if he could, at the
present time,make that correction.
Mr. Knight referred to G.Te. of the Ethics Ordinance that provides, "The
Commission, at any time during the preliminary hearing, may also dismiss a complaint
if the complaint does not allege conduct which would be a violation of this Section.
Before a complaint is dismissed for failure to allege a violation, the complainant shall be
permitted one opportunity, within ten (10) days of such preliminary hearing, to revise
and resubmit the complaint." He pointed out that this item would also need to be
delayed until additional members are appointed to the Commission.
Mr. Walsh, representing Councilman Morgan, pointed out that he had read the
complaint and did not notice the wrong date. He agreed that Mr. Graffious could
correct the date on the original complaint instead of having to re-file another one.
Mr. Knight noted that under certain circumstances if an attorney waives
something in an open forum that was sufficient, but it was up to the Commission and
the complainant to make that decision.
The Commission gave their consensus that Mr. Graffious could make the
correction on the original complaint and initial it or, if he chose to, he could re-file the
complaint.
Chairman Sullivan noted that a motion was on the floor which did not have a
second.
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Commissioner Ort withdrew his motion.
CONSIDER SETTING A DATE FOR AN ORIENTATION MEETING: At the
request of Mr. Knight, Ms. Land distributed a memo from Mr. Knight to the
Commission. A copy of the memo was also provided to Mr. Walsh, Mr. Morgan, and
Mr. Graffious. Mr. Knight said his memo begins with, "Everything of opinion I give this
Commission is advisory, I do not vote, I do not make decisions for this Commission, I
recommend and advise."
After a brief discussion regarding setting the date for the next meeting of the
Ethics Commission, Chairman Sullivan asked Ms. Land to arrange a meeting for
orientation and for the pending preliminary hearing.
ADTOURNMENT:
Mr. Knight reminded the Commission that he was not at liberty to discuss his
memo until the next meeting.
There being no further business,the meeting adjourned at 7:13 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Christine Martinez
Assistant City Secretary
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