CITY OF PICKERINGTON

RULES COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

MONDAY, JUNE 2, 2003

REGULAR MEETING AGENDA

7:00 P.M.

1. ROLL CALL. Mr. Maxey called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M., with roll call as follows: Mr. Maxey and Mr. Fox were present. Mr. Parker absent. Others present were: Lynda Yartin, and others.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF May 5, 2003, Regular Meeting. Mr. Fox moved to approve; Mr. Maxey seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fox and Mr. Maxey voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 2-0.

3. SCHEDULED MATTERS:

A. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance amending Chapter 220 of the Pickerington Codified Ordinances (Administrative Code) to require abstention from voting. Mr. Maxey stated he had hoped the sponsor of this legislation would attend the meeting this evening. He stated he had spoken to both law directors and the sponsor has not responded to a memorandum written to him and dated April 30, 2003. Mr. Maxey stated the memorandum from the law director points out some concerns with this legislation such as potential enforceability problems, the “knowingly” language, if there should be a dollar figure, how far “removed” a council member must remain, and would a council member be required to maintain a list of all campaign contributions. Mr. Maxey stated he definitely felt very strongly that the council member should be required to keep track of campaign contributions. Mr. Maxey stated the law director had also provided a copy of a chapter from the Lancaster codified ordinances regarding ethics. Mr. Maxey stated he had several concerns with this legislation, for example, if a resident contributed a small amount of money to a councilman’s campaign and was subsequently appointed to the Fourth of July Committee, would that create a problem when Council approves the budget and there is a donation to the Fourth of July Committee. Mr. Maxey stated further council votes every year on the annual street repaving, and could that create a problem. He stated he understood that these kinds of issues were not the intent of the legislation, however, he felt it did need to be cleaned up to address some of those issues. Mr. Maxey stated had the sponsor been at this meeting, he would have had no problem forwarding this to Council with some minor changes, however, if the Committee concurred he would like to have this remain on the agenda until next month. He stated he will get with the sponsor and discuss the items mentioned tonight, as well as, his response to the questions from the law director. Mr. Maxey stated he had no problem with the concept of the legislation, but he also wanted to clarify with the law director that we would not be duplicating efforts with the Ohio Ethics Commission and the election laws that all elected officials are bound by. Mr. Fox stated he concurred with Mr. Maxey, and he also had concerns on if the legislation spoke to “in-kind” contributions as well as cash, and another appropriate example would be the downtown revitalization revolving loans that were provided for businesses. He stated some of those business owners might have contributed to someone’s campaign and would they directly benefit from the project. Mr. Maxey stated everything Council does most likely benefits someone or the majority of the citizens of Pickerington. He stated another example would be the widening of S.R. 256 as that definitely benefited everyone. Mr. Maxey stated again, he would like to have this continued on the agenda for next month.

4. OTHER BUSINESS: No other business was brought forward.

5. ADJOURNMENT: There being nothing further, Mr. Fox moved to adjourn; Mr. Maxey seconded the motion. Mr. Maxey and Mr. Fox voted “Aye.” Motion carried, 2-0. The meeting adjourned at 7:20 P.M., June 2, 2003.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

________________________________

Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk