MMSD decides to comply with ethics policy

I sent the following letter to board president Carol Carstensen a few days ago:

In correspondence with MMSD Attorney Clarence Sherrod, I learned that the district and board have not complied with Board Policy 9000A 4, which reads:

Board members, the Superintendent, the Assistant Superintendent for Business Services, and all employees with District purchasing authority shall (1) file a Statement of Economic Interests with the Legal Counsel of the Board prior to April 30th of each year and (2) file a disclosure form with the Assistant Superintendent for Business Services or her/his designee within 30 days after entering into an employment or independent contractor agreement contemplating annual compensation of $1,000.00 or more.

When I requested copies of the Statements of Economic Interests filed in compliance with 9000A 4, Attorney Sherrod provided . . . copies. I summarized the filings by individual and year in the attached table. As you can see, very few board members or employees filed annually.

Board Policy 9000A provides the following sanctions for failure to comply:

Employees violating this policy or procedure are subject to discipline, up to and including dismissal. Board members who fail to file the required Statement of Economic Interest shall not be paid until such filing is effected.

I request that you, as Board president, direct the MMSD to comply with Board Policy 9000A 4 by April 30th, 2006, and annually thereafter, so that a formal complaint or other action will not be necessary.

The summary table shows, for instance, that Superintendent Rainwater has not filed a Statement of Economic Interest since he was deputy superintendent in 1998 and Ruth Robarts hasn't filed since 1997.

Shortly after I hand delivered my letter to the Doyle building, Attorney Sherrod called to explain that he had annually requested statements if the person felt that anything had changed from the previous year. He commented that his advice was based on what the board had intended when it adopted the policy, though he admitted that his advice was not "technically" correct. He assured me that the policy would be followed this year, and I assured him that I would request copies of this year's statements in early May.

Posted by Ed Blume at April 6, 2006 10:58 PM
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