Yakima City Council agrees to move forward with code of ethics

YAKIMA, Wash. --  The Yakima City Council took a step toward creating a code of ethics this morning by sending the matter to a committee to come up with a draft.

While the full council agreed to proceed, it was not before some members expressed initial skepticism about the idea.

“Do we know why we’re doing this?” asked Councilwoman Maureen Adkison.

Councilwoman Kathy Coffey worried about creating a new bureaucracy by duplicating laws that already prohibit such practices as influence-peddling and conflict of interest.

“What is in here that isn’t already prohibited?” Coffey asked.

Coffey was one of four council members accused by a former council member of violating the state open-meetings law by arranging votes on a new budget policy outside a public meeting.

That incident, which occurred in April, prompted a lawsuit that was settled out of court without decisively answering whether there was a violation.

But as a result, Councilwoman Sonia Rodriguez proposed an ethics code.

Rodriguez said the council needs such a code to instill public trust. “The public we serve should have trust in us.”

The council’s Rules and Procedures Committee will develop a draft that will outline how an ethics code will be enforced, who it should apply to and whether there should be criminal penalties. Members of the committee are Micah Cawley, Rodriguez and Adkison.

-- Leah Beth Ward