‘Misused and abused.’ Kennewick council debates tossing 1-year-old ethics policy

A year after the Kennewick City Council adopted an ethics policy for council members, a majority of the council is ready to get rid of it.

When it was passed, councilmen said they doubted the policy would ever need to be used.

But already ethics complaints have been brought against two council members. Both say they believe the complaints brought by their fellow councilmen were politically motivated.

At a workshop meeting this week, four of seven council members said they thought the policy was unnecessary or too deeply flawed to be fixed.

The policy’s stated goal is to “promote public confidence in the integrity of local government and its fair operation,” but as written it is not fulfilling that purpose, said Councilman Jim Millbauer.

Councilman John Trumbo, who was reprimanded in a split vote of the council this spring after an ethics violation was filed and upheld against him, also wants the policy tossed out.

No only has the policy been “misused and abused,” it is ambiguous and vague, he said.

But Mayor Don Britain, who had an ethics complaint that was filed against him dismissed by the city’s ethics officer earlier this year, said the policy is needed.

Changing code

Kennewick attorney Thomas Atwood, who serves as the city ethic’s officer, recommended that the council consider some changes to the policy.

Among them is clarifying whether the council ethics policy pertains only to city-related business.

The Council Code of Ethics currently says the “professional and personal conduct of officials must be above reproach and avoid even the appearance of impropriety.”

In the case filed against the mayor, Atwood initially found that there should be a hearing to consider evidence to determine whether Mayor Don Britain had violated the ethics code.

Britain was fired from his job as a Washington state Department of Social and Health Services case manager after an administrative investigation by the Washington State Patrol into his relationship with a female welfare client.

But before the hearing was held, Atwood reversed his finding and effectively dismissed the case. He said the mayor had convinced him that the council ethics code should only apply to conduct directly related to city business.

Atwood said Tuesday that before his final decision he had discussed the intent of the policy with City Attorney Lisa Beaton, who said that references in the policy to “officials” indicated the code should refer to conduct related to their position as council members.

Trumbo was reprimanded after he called a new home buyer on a matter that he said had nothing to do with his position as a councilman but she believed that he was calling on city business.

Trumbo said that if Atwood’s ethics complaint was dismissed for not involving city business, his should have been, too.

The council had previously sanctioned Trumbo in April 2019 and removed him from board and committee assignments for the rest of that year for “misuse of office” after he used his city council business card during an unauthorized investigation into another council member. Soon after, the council created its formal ethics policy.

Depending on the ethics officer’s conclusions after reviewing a complaint, the council can issue reprimands, sanctions, remove the council member from boards and commissions or level a civil fine up to $1,000.

New code possible

Britain and Councilmen Steve Lee and Chuck Torelli said the policy could be fixed to clarify that it only refers to business connected to the city.

Torelli said the policy provided a step between council actions to sanction a council member who acted unethically and a recall filed by the public.

Recall measures attempted against council members in recent years have cost the city more than $100,000 in attorney fees, he said.

But Councilman Brad Beauchamp said revising the code to define what is professional versus private conduct for all possibility would be difficult. He also questioned the value of the code.

“Adults in this position don’t need a code of conduct,” he said.

Councilman Bill McKay agreed the council ethics code was not needed.

Council members do not vote at council workshops, but are expected to take up the code of ethics at a future meeting.

City staff said a code of ethics is recommended for insurance reasons, but that it would be possible to replace the current code with one that only covers actions that state law says are illegal, such as destroying public records.