02/28/1979 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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conflict of interest. Once it has been established there is one, is there any justi fi cati on for Counci 1 to all ow that to conti nue? He was not concerned with "after the fact" situations, if a member previous to appointment had participated in the program. He felt it to be a matter ~ whether it was a good or bad pol i cy. . Mr. Delay was disappointed with the operational aspects of that kind of problem of the conflict existing for a year after membership on the COCo His major concern was avoiding the appearance of impropriety in the public arena. Personally, he had no problem and saw no confl i ct of interest in this particular case. But in terms of the City Council representing the community, he would have to support avoiding the appearance of impropriety. He felt that to be of major importance. In response to a question from Ms. Schue, Mr. Osborn said the policy would apply to anyone staff perceived as having a conflict. If staff thinks there is a possible conflict, staff would request an opinion from the attorney, with subsequent determination by Council. Mr. Laird responded to Mr. Lieuallen's concern regarding a shift in position. He said legally,'the loan could be made. However, as counsel for the City, it was necessary to point out the problems regarding public policy concern. Ms. Miller said that it seemed excluding people from actually getting loans while they are serving on boards still leaves a fairly large number of neighborhood people who could serve on the committees and be represen- tative of community development activities. She also noted there seemed to be a certain appearance of unfairness regarding other City advisory boards whose members are affected by what they do (such as ERA, Airport Commission, ~ and building trades). However, she said perhaps they are not as directly affected monetarily. She said the conflict of interest seems more apparent than real. She could not imagine the COC members would have that much impact on whether they would get loans, as there are very set guidelines and procedures for qualifying for loans and grants. Mr. Delay wondered if Council could simply disallow loans or grants to members only while they are serving, rather than leaving intact the language that a conflict exists a year after they have resigned from the committee. Mr. Laird said one-year disallowance was a Federal requirement. The Federal conflict of interest provision does not apply, however, in this particular situation, so the City could eliminate that regulation. Mr. Delay moved, seconded by Ms. Smith, to adopt a policy that persons serving on COC cannot apply for a loan during tenure on that committee; 'and that staff draft a letter for the Mayor's signature expressing Council's sympathy with Alan Garten's position. Mr. Delay said the intent of his motion was not to process any element of a loan during the tenure of the COC member. 2/28/79--10 - \32..