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TO: Mayor Irvin and the Members of the City Council
FROM: The Law Department
DATE: June 24, 2019
SUBJECT:
Intergovernmental Agreement for Enforcement of the City's Ethics Ordinance.
PURPOSE:
To enter into an agreement with DuPage County for shared enforcement of the City's new Ethics Ordinance.
BACKGROUND:
In January of 2019, the former Special Committee on Revisions to the City Code (Special Committee) began a review of Chapter 2, Article III, Division 2 of the City Code that, generally, addresses the ethical standards for the City's officers and employees. The Special Committee recommended adoption of a comprehensive revision of these standards to be codified as a new chapter of the City Code that both modernized and restated existing rules and streamlined the enforcement procedures. See Legistar 19-0015.
Due to the similarity of the proposed revisions to the DuPage County Ethics Ordinance of 2012, and DuPage County's existing practice of entertaining intergovernmental agreements with governmental entities that adopt ethics policies similar to the County's, the Special Committee, and later the Committee of the Whole requested that the Law Department begin discussions with DuPage County to determine whether a shared enforcement agreement between the City and the County was feasible and appropriate.
With the caveat that the City Council has yet to formally enact the new ethics ordinance, various County officers have responded favorably to the concept and the Law Department has negotiated the attached intergovernmental agreement with the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office. Despite the positive reaction by County staff as well as our COW, the IGA requires formal approval by the City Council and the County Board.
DISCUSSION:
The existing City Code provides for a 9-member Ethics Commission, though no members have been appointed to the Commission for approximately 20 years. Utilizing the DuPage County Ethics Commission to hear complaints under the...
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