Council to make further revisions to ethics code

Evanston aldermen Monday postponed a final vote on the rewrite of the city’s ethics code to incorporate several amendments to the proposal.

Alderman Don Wilson, 4th Ward, who chaired the committee that developed the new code, proposed changes that would:

• Include a reference to relevant state laws in the ordinance.
• Have the Rules Committee rather than City Council act on appeals from Board of Ethics decisions.
• Specify that the Special Counsel to the Board of Ethics refer possible violations of state ethics statutes to the Cook County State’s Attorney.
• Provide notice of a complaint to the respondent within seven days.
• Reduce the per-person daily cap on gifts of food and refreshments from $100 to $75, to match a state statute.

The aldermen did adopt one amendment to the draft document Monday night. That proposal, from Aldeman Melissa Wynne, 3rd Ward, would clarify that a simple majority vote of the board would be required to act on an ethics complaint. With the current five-member board that would mean three votes would be required to find a violation.

Final action on the ethics code rewrite is now scheduled for the City Council’s Nov. 25 meeting.

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