Ethics board meets for first time, meets new attorney
Published 7:23 am Thursday, April 26, 2018
- (Photo by Kendra Peek) Charles D. Cole, a Lexington attorney, reads the code of ethics that has been established for the city of Danville to the Ethics Board, which met Wednesday for the first time in about a year.
The Danville Ethics Board met Wednesday for the first time in about a year, setting it’s next meeting for 1:30 p.m. April 25, 2019.
During the meeting, the five members and one of the two alternates were introduced to Charles Cole, the Lexington-based attorney representing the board.
“These things do come up occasionally … When it does come up, it’s usually not a comfortable situation,” said Cole. “In my experience, when it is serious enough to come before the ethics board, there’s going to be a lot of people taking an interest in it.”
It’s the first time this board has officially met, said City Clerk Donna Peek, who acts as secretary on the board. They met once last year, she said, but there weren’t enough members to have a quorum; she said the board had previously met, with different members, for hearings.
Cole went through the city’s ordinance, explaining to board members that a Kentucky Revised Statute requires every city to have an ethics ordinance. He also explained the Open Meetings and Open Records Acts, established by the state.
All of the city’s ordinances can be found at bit.ly/2qqNaPB.
Ethics board members are appointed by the Danville City Commission. They must be residents of Danville for at least one year prior to becoming members and can’t hold an elected office or position within the city. Regular members serve three years, while alternates serve one year.
The members of the ethics board are:
• J.P. Brantley, chair, term expires Oct. 10, 2019;
• Liz Erwin, co-chair, term expires Oct. 10, 2019;
• Buck Rogers, term expires Oct. 10, 2019;
• Pastor James Hunn, term expires Jan. 31, 2019; and
• Rev. Amy Meaux, term expires Aug. 30, 2018.
There are two alternate members: Arnetta Myers and Bill Carter, who was absent. Peek said the alternates were to fill in if the members had to be absent from a meeting.
Board members also voted to have Cole draft rules and regulations for the board’s open records policy.
