CHARTER PANEL TO ASK CITY TO CREATE ETHICS UNIT

Recommendations to establish an ethics commission and to allow people to vote on new fees and taxes will be presented Monday at 7 p.m. at the city council meeting.

The Cape Girardeau Charter Review Committee, appointed by the city council, will recommend establishing a seven-member ethics commission appointed by council.

City employees and council members wouldn't be allowed to serve on the commission.

The commission would review the official conduct of the mayor, council members, city manager, chief purchasing officer, city judge and members of city boards.

Some items that might be considered by the ethics commission are allegations from conflicts of interest or malfeasance.

The commission would issue a written report with recommendations to the council, which would have the ultimate authority.

Along with the ethics panel, the committee wants a preamble to the charter, saying the public expects its city officials to adhere to the highest standards of ethical conduct.

Committee member Loretta Schneider said a lot of this ethics regulation already is in the city's ordinances, "but we don't have a way of enforcing it."

Committee member Peter Hilty favors an ethics commission, adding that there have been ethical problems with city government in the past.

But, he added, "ultimately, you don't get ethical men from having ethical laws."

Amendments can be placed on the ballot either by the city council or through initiative petition.

Committee member David Barklage said charter amendments could be placed on the ballot as early as next spring.

Changes in the 13-year-old city charter would have to be approved by the voters before they could be implemented.

On the tax measure, the committee wants to amend the charter to require council to seek voter approval for fee or tax increases of more than 5 percent during the fiscal year.

The exception would be in cases of a council-declared emergency.

It would take a unanimous vote of the council to declare an emergency.

Barklage thinks a fee-and-tax-restriction measure is a good idea.

He said voters can discern when a tax proposal has merit and when it doesn't.

The committee, which has studied city government the past 18 months, is recommending a number of other changes.

Other recommendations include term limits for the mayor and council, prohibition of licenses for trades and professions and the requirement of a balanced budget

Under the term-limit recommendation, the mayor and council members could serve a maximum of two full terms of four years each.

It was a divided committee that approved calling for an amendment to prohibit the city from licensing trades or professions. The committee vote was 4-3 for the provision.

Committee Chair Paul Stehr, who voted for the ban, said the city doesn't need to license electricians, plumbers and others in the construction trades.

It can control the quality of such work through inspections rather than licensing.

Schneider and Barklage are former city council members and Stehr is a former Cape Girardeau mayor.

Barklage has pushed for a number of changes designed to make city government more fiscally responsible, which the committee has backed.

One change would require the city to establish an emergency reserve fund with a balance equal to 15 percent of city expenditures.

Another change would require the city to disclose its total debt prior to an election, before it incurred indebtedness and when it adopted its annual budget.

A third recommendation insists on a balanced budget and strictly defines how that is calculated.

Stehr said the task at Monday's meeting is to finalize the report's wording, adding that there will be no revotes.