Newport News Mayor McKinley Price and Vice-Mayor Madeline McMillan met on Tuesday as members of a committee exploring a possible "Code of Ethics" for City Council.

But why?

Because of alleged abuse of City staff and resources by members of City Council.  Vice-Mayor Madeline McMillan told James River Journal, "I take full responsibility for forming this committee. In my years of being on Council, I have heard a number of complaints against members of Council. I will not say whether these complaints came from city staff, other members of council, or members of the public. This is not something that has just started; this has been going on for years. But it is time to do something about it."

Specific complaints against members of City Council received by Vice-Mayor McMillan:

City Equipment

Requests for help from staff during work hours in programming and servicing of personal cell phones, IPads, personal laptops, Twitter.

Breaking or damaging city equipment while in personal possession-who has financial responsibility for replacement?

Demands of expedited replacement for equipment for which there is generally a cost element.

Using city equipment for personal use.

City Vehicles

Duration of the use of a city vehicle. (The cost is $20 per day plus mileage for City Council members. Is this cost billed to all departments for use of a city vehicle by staff? )

Leaving a city vehicle running while not occupying the vehicle.

Not cleaning up personal trash and debris prior to turning in the vehicle.

Demanding that items left in the car be delivered immediately to council member.

Also- parking personal vehicles in fire lanes, etc. for convenient parking.

Financial

Claiming mileage to attend Council meetings. (As noted by employees, they are not paid to drive to and from their job site.)

Per Diem – what is the policy for claiming and receiving advanced per diem? If travel and hotel expenses are directly paid for and a city credit card is issued, how is a per diem justified? Are receipts required? Is excess per diem returned?

Are “town meetings” by individual council members considered official city events or a matter of personal preference? What justifies billing for food served at those meetings?

Are city gifts available for the taking by council members for presentation at personally scheduled events or as personal gifts? (These are larger gifts, not trinkets)

Misuse of city personnel

Asking staff to shop for personal items. (clothes, gifts, etc.)

Delivery of items and mail to home or office.

Preparation of letters, literature, mailings for campaigns, campaign contribution letters, or town hall meetings.

Writing resumes for family members.

Paying personal bills.

To organize personal travel.

To organize Council members personal files at home.

Scheduling of personal appointments (doctor, dentist, stylist)

Using city staff for preparation of personal legal documents.

Requests to do personal tasks.

The Mayor and Vice- Mayor agreed the best plan would be for City Council members to follow the same rules as City Staff. Director of Human Resources Yvonne Manning walked over to her office and got the "book of rules" for city staff. The wire bound notebook was about 4 inches thick.

When both realized they would have to ask permission before taking a city vehicle, there was a bit of disagreement on whether or not other members of council would approve the plan.

It was decided there should be some special exceptions to the rules for members of council, and it should be up to the members of council to decide what those exceptions should be.

A big concern was enforcement of the code. Even though it is against the law for a member of City Council to interfere with the hiring or firing of city staff, (other than the City Manager)  or to take action against a city employee who complains of abuse, concern was still prevalent that a city staffer could "pay the price" for complaining about a member of City Council.

"The council member could just threaten to build enough votes to fire the City Manager," said one city staffer, who was not at the meeting. The staff member spoke to James River Journal on condition of anonymity.

The committee reviewed some rules and enforcement measures other Virginia communities have been able to incorporate.

One of particular interest was a code James City County was recently able to pass. Here is part of the code referring to enforcement:

"The Board of Supervisors may impose sanctions on members whose conduct does not comply with the County's ethical standards, such as public or private reprimand, formal censure, loss of senority or committee assignment, or budget restriction. Where allowed by law, the Board of Supervisors also may remove members of Board-appointed boards, committees, and commissions from office."

The committee agreed the James City County code could be a good one to incorporate into a Newport News code.

The committee will meet again in February to work out details of a code. The committee will then report back to full council in March.

Whether or not any code of ethics will pass remains to be seen. 

Assistant City Manager Cindy Rohlf, City Attorney Stuart Katz, City Clerk Mabel Washington-Jenkins, and Director of Human Resources Yvonne Manning were the city staff members in attendance for the meeting.