Whitefish revisits ethics policy

The Whitefish City Council is forming a committee to review the city’s ethics and conflict-of-interest policy.

It has been nearly 13 years since Whitefish passed what was at the time a controversial policy describing ethical behavior for council members and how to avoid conflicts of interest.

In recent months there have been numerous requests from citizens asking for an ethics policy review, City Clerk Necile Lorang said. Some of the concerns were related to the last council election and political-action committees, she added.

The Whitefish council adopted its ethics and conflict of interest policy in December 1997 and five months later revised it to make it more palatable to officials and the public.

The biggest change in the revisions was removing language dealing with contributions to nonprofit groups.

Initially, the policy said a conflict of interest could occur if an applicant for any approval from the city donated to a nonprofit of which a public official was a member. After community residents testified that the stipulation could hurt nonprofits’ fundraising ability, the council dropped that section.

Instead, council members passed a substitute clause disallowing public officials from actively soliciting donations for any nonprofit group he or she belongs to.

Another significant change adopted in May 1998 was a shift in who must answer to the ethics policy.

The original policy included not only the City Council, but also department heads, standing committees such as the park board, police commission, parking commission and planning board.

The revised policy refers only to the council, city attorney, city manager and Board of Adjustment. The Board of Adjustment is the only board that makes quasi-judicial decisions; all others make recommendations.

Whitefish was the first incorporated city in Flathead County to adopt an ethics policy.

Applicants for the city’s new review committee should be Whitefish residents. Interested citizens may submit a letter of interest to the Whitefish City Clerk’s Office at 418 E. Second Street or mail to P.O. Box 158, Whitefish, MT 59937, by Friday, July 9.

Interviews will be scheduled for July 19.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com