The Mount Hope town board unanimously passed a new ethics law on March 4, authorizing an ethics board to hear citizen complaints and render advisory opinions.
Updating the decades-old ethics law was a key campaign promise of the new town supervisor, Paul Rickard.
In the coming weeks, Mr. Rickard will consider candidates for the five-member board and submit a list to the town board for final approval.
The only hard rules are that members must reside in the Town of Mount Hope, cannot hold office in any political party or political action committee, and cannot be employed as lobbyists.
“What I am looking for in candidates is that they are sincerely committed to an ethical and transparent government and have the town’s best interest at heart,” he told The Epoch Times on March 12.
Once appointed, members will remain on the ethics board with no set term expiration date; they will remain on the board unless they voluntarily resign or are removed by a unanimous board vote, according to Mr. Rickard.
That mechanism helps members make decisions without worrying about political benefits or consequences, he said.
Board members serve two primary functions: review citizen complaints and render advisory opinions to town employees and elected officials on ethics issues with the help of the town attorney.
No annual financial disclosures by town officials are required.
According to the new ethics law, town officials are forbidden from having any financial interests or accepting jobs that conflict with or might reasonably tend to conflict with their public duties.
They are also forbidden from using their public posts to further unjust personal interests.
No town officials within two years after the termination of their public services can accept employment that will require them to appear before any town board or agency.
Violators of the new ethics law may be fined, suspended, or removed from public duties, according to the new ethics code.
“The purpose of the law is really to have residents walk away with a feeling that our decisions were made in good faith, whether they agree or disagree with them,” Mr. Rickard said.
On March 4, the Mount Hope town board also passed a local law that authorized the town to establish a new advisory committee representing the voice of residents in the Hidden Valley sewer district.
