Following the advice Wayne Barrett, Executive Director of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission (“SEEC”), Councilmember Cathy Moore is considering proposing changes to the City’s ethics rules.
According to Barrett, “Last summer we had a couple of bills where we were very much in the middle of political matters of City Hall and that’s not where I think we should be.”
The potential rule change would require Councilmembers to fully disclose potential financial interests they might have in legislation before the Council. Under current rules, the SEEC is empowered to urge Councilmembers to recuse themselves from votes on which a financial conflict might exist. The changed rule would require disclosure of a potential financial conflict and leave it to the Councilmembers to recuse themselves.
The challenge with the current rule is drawing a line between financial interests that require recusal and those that do not. For example, no Councilmember has ever been urged to recuse themselves from voting on legislation to protect tenants even though they were renters at the time. However, Councilmember Maritza Rivera could face recusal from voting on upcoming landlord-tenant legislation because she earns a small income from a rental in the Green Lake neighborhood. In addition, one Councilmember was recently urged to recuse herself from voting on food delivery legislation after her father-in-law purchased a restaurant.
While some view this potential change as weakening the City’s ethics rules, others view it as an opportunity to create an ethics code that can be applied evenly.
