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Summary Minutes:Regular City Commission Meeting April 17,2014 City of Sunny Isles Beach,Florida <br /> 9. ORDINANCES FOR SECOND READING (Public Hearings) <br /> 9A. An Ordinance of the City Commission of the City of Sunny Isles Beach,Florida,Amending <br /> Chapter 33 "Code of Ethics"to Clarify that Elected Officials are Prohibited from Serving <br /> on the Board of Directors of for Profit or Not for Profit Corporations that Receive <br /> Monetary or In-Kind Benefits from the City; Providing for Severability; Providing for <br /> Inclusion in the Code; Providing for Repeal of Conflicting Provisions; and Providing for an <br /> Effective Date. <br /> (First Reading 03/20/14) <br /> Action: City Clerk Hines read the title, and City Attorney Ottinot reported that this <br /> Ordinance prohibits Elected Officials from serving on Boards for profit or not for profit <br /> corporations that receive benefits from the City. <br /> Public Speakers: Bob Welsh <br /> Mayor Edelcup said we had a workshop on April 15, and we discussed this extensively. He <br /> had asked the Commissioners to reflect on it between Tuesday and today as to whether or not <br /> this is something that we really want to do. <br /> Commissioner Gatto said in the first reading she voted for it because she felt that there were <br /> a lot of gray areas and this tied up some of those gray areas but she had an opportunity to <br /> look further with new information on what this does. One of the things she was not aware of <br /> at the time is that this is covered by the County and the State Ethics Commissions and we are <br /> already covered. In that vein it was not completely necessary to have this Ordinance, and <br /> then there was probably going to be some unintended consequences coming out of this. Part <br /> of our job as Commissioners is to be out there and help the community and use our influence, <br /> and if that were to tie our hands in an area where we could really be helpful, that was not a <br /> good thing. Given that there is a lot of black and white with this. she is going to do <br /> something that she has never done in all the years that she has sat here but she is going to <br /> reverse herself and not support this Ordinance. <br /> Vice Mayor Aelion agreed with Commissioner Gatto. The thought process behind this was <br /> one of perception and ethics,how would the public perceive the involvement or participation <br /> of a public official in an organization. He made a very thorough investigation on decisions <br /> made by the Director of the Commission on Ethics at the County and State levels and <br /> basically when somebody serves on a non-profit organization and it comes before the <br /> Commission, that Commissioner would automatically abstain. <br /> Commissioner Scholl said he has been on the Board of the Blood Center for 12-13 years and <br /> if we pass this we can't run blood drives at the City any more because the City would be <br /> providing an in-kind benefit to the Blood Center for running the blood drive. Bob Welsh <br /> called him and said it creates some issues with the School Trust. We started with something <br /> that was very well intended and as Commissioner Gatto pointed out, there are unintended <br /> consequences that when we dig a little deeper we see that we are creating more issues than <br /> we need to, and he agrees with Commissioner Gatto. <br /> Commissioner Levin agreed that there are unintended consequences if we were to go ahead <br /> and pass this Ordinance. She still thinks there is the potential for the appearance of <br /> improprieties of Commissioners serving on boards that are going to be given money by the <br /> 8 <br />