At Tuesday’s Chula Vista City Council meeting, the city’s Ethics Commission presented a report that could be a game changer in city politics.
Tasked earlier this year by the City Council to address who should hire outside legal counsel to investigate and, if necessary, prosecute campaign contribution violations, the commission came back with a plan that was characterized by Mayor Cheryl Cox as “elegant.”
Previously the City Attorney’s Office acted as an advisor to all boards and commissions.
However, now that the city attorney is an elected position, some critics worried that the current system presented a conflict.
During their report to council Tuesday, the commission proposed it be allowed to adopt procedures permitting the City Attorney’s Office to work with them to develop professional criteria for selected attorneys who will serve as the enforcement authority and that the City Attorney’s Office will seek applicants for the attorney position after confirming their qualifications.
The proposal was accepted by the council with the understanding that the commission would assemble and interview legal candidates.
The council also allotted $30,000 to the commission for use in hiring outside counsel.
Ethics member Chris Shilling said the council gave the commission direction to take the task on and that City Attorney Glen Googins has a different interpretation of the charter.
“We’re only getting one view of this,” Shilling said in a past interview. “I would want the City Council’s information and input. What’s their interpretation of the city’s charter?”
Googins said delegating this authority to the ethics board violates the city’s charter.
“If the commission takes this up they need to develop policies, mechanism and procedures,” he said.
However, he also recognized that the dynamics have changed and the board could be the entity to remove a conflict of interest.
The City Attorney’s Office has been working to update the ordinance since June 2010 and serves as the legal advisor to all boards and commissions.
However, with the city’s first elected attorney, Googins is now subject to the same rules as elected officials, possibly creating a conflict of interest.
