Ethics Naples, City Council try to come to terms on ethics referendum

The Naples City Council met Monday with representatives of Ethics Naples to try to come to an agreement regarding the PAC's ethics referendum, which has been the subject of a series of lawsuits between the two groups since April.

The two sides discussed the problems the city has with the referendum, including how a proposed ethics commission will be formed and how many votes the council needs to override its decisions. The City Council will have a closed-door session with its legal counsel during its meeting Wednesday to talk about next steps.

Ethics Naples collected the required number of signatures in April to move the referendum forward, but council members questioned its legality and voted to let a judge decide whether it should appear before voters. Collier Circuit Court Judge Hugh Hayes ruled in favor of Ethics Naples last month.

In case you missed it:Naples Council won't appeal ruling on creating ethics panel, will seek compromise

And:Judge rules: Referendum on creating Naples ethics panel can go to voters

In response, the City Council unanimously voted to meet with Ethics Naples to discuss its concerns and provide its own framework for an ethics commission.

One of those concerns, according to City Attorney Bob Pritt, is a stipulation that the ethics commission's proposed changes to the city's code would become law unless five or more councilors objected.

Vice Mayor Gary Price echoed Pritt's concerns Monday.

"We do very little by 5-2 vote, and the majority 4-3 is how we run this city with a couple of exceptions," he said. "And I'm concerned about that because it goes against how we do business here, and potentially this charter amendment proposes a different set of rules than we follow for other things."

Concerns also were raised about potential conflicts of interest, because the referendum proposes having the state attorney’s office, the Office of the Public Defender and the Collier County Sheriff's Office each appoint one member to the commission.

"It seems sort of odd that you would have three of the five members potentially sitting as the next phase of making decisions on a case that would be referred from the ethics commission,” Price said. 

Ray Christman, executive director of Ethics Naples, said other cities in the state, including Tallahassee and Jacksonville, use a similar model and haven't had any issues.

"The language ... is consistent with how other ethics commissions operate, and those ethics commissions have people appointed by these same appointing authorities," he said. "So that has not been perceived, apparently, as a conflict in other situations that exist."

More:City Council accuses Ethics Naples executive director of violating city's code of ethics

And:Naples City Council declines to investigate alleged ethics violation

But Naples isn't like other cities, Councilwoman Ellen Seigel said.

"Naples is like no other city, and when you refer to things that were done in Tallahassee as a model, to me, that's one city, that's all it is," she said. "And when you tell me there's no problem with the language or your petition because it passed in Tallahassee, that doesn't mean anything to me."

Seigel also suggested that council members should appoint members to the commission.

"You would have the commission being appointed by primarily noncity lawyers and politicians," she said to Christman. "The framework that we're proposing would have this commission appointed by City Council, people who were elected, who really know the citizens of this city and who know who would be the ideal, independent, highly regarded people who could serve on the commission."

However, having the City Council appoint members to the commission might compromise its independence, Christman said.

"Every ethics commission that exists in the state of Florida is independent," he said. "In the six or seven other places in Florida, this appointment process occurred without any problems."

If the council and Ethics Naples agree on a framework for the creation of an ethics commission, then there would be no need for the referendum to appear before voters.

However, Nick Penniman, president of Ethics Naples and husband of Councilwoman Linda Penniman, said he and the board of directors have some serious issues with the city's proposed framework.

"We believe this proposal offers some good ideas that should be discussed in drafting the ethics code if the amendment passes," he wrote in an Oct. 26 letter to the council. "Nevertheless, we believe that many of the proposals place severe limitations on the power of the ethics commission to investigate ethical violations and enforce the ethics code."

Instead, he suggested that the city proceed with Hayes' order and put the referendum before voters in a special election March 26. If the referendum passes, then the two parties could work together with the new ethics commission to "create a workable code that provides reasonable, practical and fair ethics oversight and education."

Previously:Naples Council votes to have judge decide legality of ethics referendum

And:Ethics PAC fights back against Naples Council to get referendum on August ballot

The Ethics Naples PAC collected the required number of signatures — at least 10 percent of the 15,000 registered voters in Naples — in April to place a referendum on the Aug. 28 primary election ballot to put the decision to create a local ethics commission in voters' hands.

At that time the City Council voted 4-3 against placing the referendum on the ballot and filed for a declaratory judgment in circuit court. The council's filing listed a number of concerns, including whether parts of the proposal were legal.

As the legal back-and-forth ensued, Ethics Naples filed a writ of mandamus with the District Court of Appeals to place the referendum on the ballot, but the scheduling of court proceedings prevented any chance of ruling ahead of the August primary election.

A special election will cost the city $35,000 to $40,000, according to Trish Robertson, a spokeswoman for the Collier County Supervisor of Elections Office.