An Ordinance Amending the Code of the City of Jacksonville Enacting a Revised Pension System s1

1 1Introduced by Council Member Shad: 2 3 4 Rules Subcommittee 05.25.11 AMENDMENT 5 ORDINANCE 2011-167 6 AN ORDINANCE REGARDING CHAPTER 602 (ETHICS 7 CODE), PART 9 (ETHICS COMMISSION), ORDINANCE 8 CODE, REPEALING THE EXISTING PART 9 OF CHAPTER 9 602; CREATING A NEW PART 9 (ETHICS COMMISSION) 10 OF CHAPTER 602 (ETHICS CODE) TO IMPLEMENT THE 11 SECTION 1.202, CHARTER OF THE CITY OF 12 JACKSONVILLE AS AMENDED BY ORDINANCE 2010-616- 13 E; PROVIDING FOR TRANSITION; PROVIDING AN 14 EFFECTIVE DATE. 15

16 WHEREAS, Ordinance 2010-616-E amended the Charter of the City 17of Jacksonville to provide for an Ethics Code and an Ethics 18Commission; and 19 WHEREAS the Council is responsible for establishing the Ethics 20Code and the Ethics Commission; and 21 WHEREAS , the Council is committed to an Ethics Commission 22selection process that encourages decision makers to consider the 23cultural and ethnic diversity of the community in their selections; 24and 25 WHEREAS the Council finds that addressing the Chapter 602 26generally (Ethics Code) and Part 9 (Ethics Commission) 27specifically, in separate ordinances, will provide for more 28thoughtful and focused consideration of each; and that the 29amendment of the structure of the Ethics Commission as set forth in 30Part 9 (Ethics Commission) of Chapter 602 will establish a proper 2 1predicate for the review and amendment of the Ethics Code 2generally, now therefore 3 BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the City of Jacksonville: 4 Section 1. Part 9 (Ethics Commission) of Chapter 602 5(Ethics Code) Repealed. Part 9 (Ethics Commission) of Chapter 6602 (Ethics Code) is hereby repealed. A copy of the existing 7Part 9, Chapter 602 is on file with the Legislative Services 8Division. 9 Section 2. A new Part 9 (Jacksonville Ethics Commission) 10of Chapter 602 (Ethics Code) Created. A new Part 9 (Jacksonville 11Ethics Commission) of Chapter 602 (Ethics Code) is hereby 12created to read as follows: 13

14 CHAPTER 602. ETHICS CODE 15 * * * 16 PART 9 17 JACKSONVILLE ETHICS COMMISSION 18 SUBPART A 19 CREATION AND ORGANIZATION 20Sec. 602.911. - Jacksonville Ethics Commission; Creation 21 There is hereby created, pursuant to Section 1.202 of the 22Charter of the City of Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Ethics 23Commission, the purpose of which is to provide a local forum for 24consideration and investigation of ethical problems and issues. 25Sec. 602.912. - Membership, terms, appointment. 26 (a) Number; terms. The Commission shall be composed of nine 27members each of whom shall be registered voters of Duval County for 28six months prior to the introduction of their nomination for 29confirmation, and who shall be appointed to serve for fixed January 301 to December 31 three-year terms. The terms of the members shall 31be so staggered that the terms of no more than three members shall 1 2 1expire in any one year. No person shall serve more than two 2consecutive full terms. If, because of a delay in appointment, a 3member serves less than two years during the term, then in that 4event, the term shall not have been considered a full term for 5purposes of reappointment. A member made ineligible by reason of 6service of two consecutive full terms may be appointed for another 7term following a waiting period of three years. 8 (b) Qualifications. Except as provided for in subsection (d) 9 below, Eeach member shall have one or more of the following 10qualifications: an attorney with litigation experience; a certified 11public accountant with forensic audit experience; a former elected 12official; a former judge; a higher education faculty member or 13former faculty member with experience in ethics; a former law 14enforcement official with experience in investigating public 15corruption; a corporate official with a background in human 16resources or ethics; a former board member of a City of 17Jacksonville independent authority; a former government executive 18with ethics experience. 19 (c) Limitations. 20 (1) No member shall be an elected or appointed official, or 21an employee of the City of Jacksonville or any of its independent 22agencies, or of any governmental agency subject to the authority of 23the Commission. No member shall be an active state court judge, an 24assistant state attorney or assistant public defender, or an 25officer of a political party. 26 (2) Ethics Commission members shall not use their position in 27any manner that decreases public trust or gives the appearance of 28impropriety. The Ethics Commission shall establish internal 29operating rules or bylaws to effectuate this provision.

1 3 1 (3) Any Commission member who files to be a candidate for 2public office shall immediately resign from the Commission and 3their position shall be deemed vacant upon filing. 4 (4) No individual while a member of the Commission shall 5allow his or her name and title as a commission member to be used 6by a campaign in support of or against any candidate for public 7office. Nothing herein shall preclude a member from signing a 8petition in support of or against any referendum, ballot question 9or candidate. This rule does not prohibit any campaign 10contributions by a member, or a member supporting any candidate in 11his or her own name. 12 (d) Selection. Each of the following persons or entities 13six persons shall make an appointment of one of six Commission 14members whose qualifications are set forth above, appoint one 15Commission member, to wit: the Mayor, the Chief Judge for the 16Fourth Judicial Circuit, the State Attorney for the Fourth 17Judicial Circuit, the Director of the UNF Ethics Center; the 18Board of the League of Women Voters; the Board of the 19Jacksonville Bar Association; the appointees from the three 20appointing citizen groups shall not be officers or members of 21the boards those appointing citizen groups. the Dean of Florida 22Coastal Law School, the Director of the University of North Florida 23Ethics Center, the President of the Jacksonville League of Women 24Voters; the President of the Perkins Bar Association; the Director 25of JCCI; and the President of Florida State College of 26Jacksonville. Three Commission members whose only qualifications 27are that they have been registered voters in Duval County for 28 six months prior to the introduction of their nomination for 29 confirmation , shall be appointed by the Ethics Commission. All 30appointment decision makers are encouraged to consider the cultural 31and ethnic diversity of the community in their selections. All 1 4 1appointments should be made within 30 days of a vacancy occurring. 2Vacancies. All appointees shall be confirmed by Council but shall 3serve until Council confirmation or denial. 4 SUBPART B. POWERS AND DUTIES 5Sec. 602.921. - Duties and powers. 6 The Jacksonville Ethics Commission (Commission) shall be 7authorized to exercise such powers and shall be required to perform 8such duties as are hereinafter provided. The Commission shall be 9empowered to review, interpret, render advisory opinions and 10enforce Chapter 602, Ordinance Code; and, in accordance with 11Section 1.202 of the Charter, to exercise the following powers and 12duties: 13 (a) The Commission, in coordination with the Ethics Office, 14is authorized to receive, and to investigate and issue findings 15with regard to any sworn written complaint alleging a violation of 16this Chapter. All complaints and records shall be confidential as 17allowed by Section 112.324, Florida Statutes, or any other 18applicable state law. In support of this power, the Commission, in 19coordination with the Ethics Office, is authorized to establish an 20ethics "hotline" to receive tips and information complaints, each 21of which shall be treated as a complaint with its related with 22confidentiality as authorized by Florida law. The General Counsel, 23with the assistance of all appropriate and available offices of the 24City, shall assist the Ethics Commission and Ethics Office in the 25investigation of complaints. The Ethics Commission may refer 26matters brought to its attention to the State Attorneys' Office or 27the Florida Commission on Ethics if it determines jurisdiction is 28vested in, and action is more appropriate if taken by said 29agencies. 30 In coordination with the Office of General Counsel and the 31Ethics Office, Provide assistance and input into the management and 1 5 1coordinateion of the training and education of local officers and 2employees in state and local ethics, including . The Commission 3shall work with the City Ethics Officer(s) and the City's Ethics 4Office in establishing, presenting, and expanding the City's Ethics 5Education Program as set forth in Section 602.1001, as well as all 6public records and sunshine law training throughout the government. 7 (c) The Commission may, upon employee or citizen complaint, 8or upon its own initiative, seek information and gather facts for 9the purpose of reviewing investigating any circumstance or 10situation of which the Commission may become aware that appears to 11violate or may potentially violate an acceptable standard of ethics 12conduct for City officers and employees as delineated in Section 131.202(d) of the Charter. Based upon such review investigation and 14findings the Commission may make such recommendations to the Mayor 15and the Council as it deems appropriate; 16 (d) Have jurisdiction to levy those civil fines or penalties 17authorized in this Chapter 602 for violations of the City’s ethics 18code; 19 (e) Act as the hiring committee for the executive director of 20the administrative staff of the Ethics Oversight and Compliance 21office. 22

23 SUBPART C. PROCEDURES AND DUE PROCESS 24Sec. 602.931. – Process for the imposition of sanctions and 25penalties. 26 In accordance with Section 602.921(d), and the Charter, the 27Commission shall perform the following duties in association with 28the enforcement of Chapter 602 and the imposition of sanctions and 29penalties including the imposition of public censures and civil 30penalties.

1 6 1 (a) The Commission shall establish and post rules and 2procedures to provide for the investigation of citizen, hotline, 3employee and self-initiated complaints of violations of Chapter 4602. 5 (b) The Commission shall establish and post rules and 6procedures to provide for due process in the charging and 7prosecution of violations of Chapter 602. 8 (c) Meetings of the Commission exempted from the provisions 9of section 286.011 Florida Statutes, shall be recorded and such 10recording shall become public upon the conclusion of the 11investigatory matter, by either a finding of no probable cause to 12proceed or a final determination by the Commission. 13Sec. 602.932. – Documents and testimony. 14 The Commission is authorized to exercise and utilize all 15procedures and processes available to city agencies, which are 16authorized by ordinance, the Charter, or Chapter 119, Florida 17Statutes, to secure the production of documents and testimonial 18evidence relevant to the investigation and prosecution of 19complaints and charges authorized by this Chapter.; except that, 20the issuance of a subpoena to compel the production of documents or 21testimony shall be authorized by a circuit or county judge of the 22Fourth Judicial Circuit upon a facial demonstration of the 23relevancy of the documentation or testimony to a provision of 24Chapter 602, Ordinance Code, the City of Jacksonville’s Ethics 25Code. 26Sec. 602.933. - Cooperation of other City agencies. 27 The services of other departments, boards and agencies of the 28City shall be made available to the Commission at its request, 29subject to their ability and capacity to provide them. Other City 30agencies shall cooperate with the Commission in the exercise of the 31Commission's responsibilities. 1 7 1Sec. 602.934. – Dismissal of complaints. 2 Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Part, the 3Commission may, at its discretion: (a) dismiss any complaint at any 4stage of disposition should it determine that the public interest 5would not be served by proceeding further, or (b) dismiss any 6complaint at any stage of disposition and issue a letter of 7instruction to the respondent when it appears that the alleged 8violation was inadvertent, unintentional or insubstantial. In the 9event the Commission dismisses a complaint as provided in this 10subsection, the Commission shall issue a public report stating with 11particularity its reasons for the dismissal. The Commission, at the 12request of the state attorney or any other law enforcement agency, 13shall stay an ongoing proceeding. The Commission shall not 14interfere with any ongoing criminal investigation of the state 15attorney or the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. 16Sec. 602.935. – Frivolous or groundless complaints. 17 In any case in which the Commission determines that the 18complaining party filed a frivolous or groundless complaint as 19defined in Florida Statutes, § 57.105, or a complaint with 20malicious intent and with the knowledge that the complaint contains 21one or more false allegations, or with reckless disregard for 22whether the complaint contains material false allegations, the 23Commission may, upon proper notice and hearing, order the 24complaining party to pay any costs and attorney's fees incurred by 25the Commission and/or the alleged violator. Such order may be 26enforced by the Circuit Court, as are other board orders of the 27City. 28Sec. 602.936. –Effect on other laws. 29 The provisions of Chapter 602 shall be deemed supplemental to 30any other applicable county ordinance or state or federal law and

1 8 1are not intended to replace or repeal any provision of state or 2federal law, or of this Code. 3Sec. 602.937. Prospective jurisdiction. 4 The Commission shall be empowered to consider alleged 5violations within its jurisdiction committed on or after the 6effective date of this Subpart. 7Sec. 602.938. Personnel or other regulatory proceeding. 8 Where an officer or employee subject to the jurisdiction of 9this Chapter is alleged to have violated an ordinance within the 10jurisdiction of the Commission, and, based upon the same set of 11facts, is subject to an ongoing disciplinary, regulatory 12administrative, or criminal action initiated by the officer or 13employee’s agency or employer, or by any other governmental entity 14with jurisdiction over the officer or employee, the Commission 15shall stay consideration of a complaint under this Part applicable 16to said officer or employee until the conclusion of the 17administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding. Nothing herein shall 18abridge employees' constitutional right to collective bargaining. 19Sec. 602.939. – Statute of limitations. 20 No action may be taken on a complaint filed more than two (2) 21years after the violation is alleged to have occurred unless a 22person, by fraud or other device, prevents discovery of the 23violation. Where the allegations are the subject of a personnel, 24criminal or administrative proceeding or where the complainant is 25required to exhaust his or her administrative remedies prior to 26filing a complaint, the statute of limitations shall be tolled 27until the termination of said proceeding or the exhaustion of 28administrative remedies. 29Sec. 602.940. – Advisory opinion. 30 Any person within the jurisdiction of the Commission, when in 31doubt about the applicability or interpretation of any provision 1 9 1within the Commission’s jurisdiction to himself or herself in a 2particular context, may submit in writing the facts of the 3situation to the Commission with a request for an advisory opinion 4to establish the standard of public duty, if any. A person 5requesting an advisory opinion may withdraw the request at any time 6up to ten days before the Commission convenes a public meeting to 7consider the request. An advisory opinion shall be rendered by the 8Commission on a timely basis, and each such opinion shall be 9numbered, dated and published. 10Sec. 602.941. – Review Appeals. 11 Any final order of the Commission imposing civil penalties, 12censure, or costs or attorneys’ fees may be appealed reviewed by 13the Circuit Court, in such manner as is authorized for review of 14quasi judicial board decisions. by filing a petition for writ of 15certiorari in the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court in and for Duval 16County. 17 Section 3. Transition. For the purposes of providing an 18orderly transition from the former Jacksonville Ethics Commission 19to the Jacksonville Ethics Commission approved by this ordinance, 20all former commissioners shall continue to serve until the 21expiration of their terms. As terms expire, appointments shall be 22made by and in the order of the selectors set forth in Section 23602.912, with initial terms staggered for one, two, or three year 24terms in order to facilitate the staggering required therein. All 25initial one or two year terms shall not be considered full terms 26for purposes of the term limit provisions contained therein.

27 Section 4. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become 28effective upon signature by the Mayor or upon becoming effective 29without the Mayor’s signature. 30

31Form Approved: 1 10 1

2___/s/ Steven E. Rohan______3Office of General Counsel 4Legislation Prepared By: Steven E. Rohan

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