On Thursday it was a surprise, but by Tuesday it wasn’t.

Supporters of a proposed ethics ordinance were surprised to find out Thursday that members of the City Council were poised to request the ordinance be re-referred to the council’s Rules Committee, and also be sent to the Finance Committee for the first time. The Rules Committee unanimously approved the ordinance at its Oct. 4 meeting after the council’s Special Committee to Review the Charter Revision Commission Recommendations recommended approval of the ordinance at its Sept. 20 meeting. Both Council member Warren Jones and Council President Jack Webb explained at Tuesday’s City Council agenda meeting that the ordinance needed further review.

“I am committed to restoring the ethics code to the City Charter,” said Webb. “I don’t think it’s inappropriate to add two weeks to properly vet the bill.”

Webb called for the bill to be re-referred to the Rules Committee and also reviewed by the Finance committee. The Council voted unanimously, 15-0, to approve the request.

“The bill states that the support of the Ethics Commission shall include a mechanism to obtain documents and testimony, but we need to discuss what that mechanism is,” said Webb. “I also want to see the Finance Committee come back with a funding model for an independent Ethics Commission.”

The latter was an issue brought up by Jones, who chairs the Finance Committee.

“We need to further discuss the financial implications of the bill,” said Jones. “We thought the bill was only to include the Ethics Code in the charter, not to create an independent commission. There are financial implications to consider when you are creating an independent commission.”

Though the Finance Committee he chairs didn’t get to review the bill initially, Jones was given the opportunity to review the bill as a member of the Special Committee to Review the Charter Revision Commission Recommendations. He was the committee member, according to the minutes from the Sept. 20 meeting, that made the motion to recommend approval of the proposed Ethics Bill.

Ordinance 2010-616 was introduced by Council member Glorious Johnson, who held a meeting Tuesday before the council meeting to discuss the progress of her bill.

“What bothers me is that all of the sudden Warren Jones has objections to this bill,” said Johnson. “He sat on a committee that unanimously recommended approval of this bill, and he said nothing. Now there are questions about the funding? Is there another agenda? I think there is.”

Though frustrated, Johnson was counted among the 15 council members who voted to send the bill back to Rules and Finance.

Also experiencing some frustration was City Ethics Officer Carla Miller, who was asked to talk about the development of the legislation at Johnson’s meeting.

“As it is stated in the proposed ordinance, the City Council shall determine what mechanism will be used to obtain documents and testimony,” said Miller. “The commission could use Sunshine Laws to obtain documents, or request that Council Secretary Cheryl Brown or City Council Auditor Kirk Sherman subpoena documents and testimony.”

jwilhelm@baileypub.com

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