Emeryville Should Have an Independent Ethics Commission Like Other Bay Area Cities
Open Letter
by Elisabeth Montgomery
The City of Emeryville recently devoted time and energy to establishing a Code of Ethics, which I applaud since small communities must stay engaged and diligent about upholding government standards in our democracy. The City Council was asked to begin this process based on behaviors exhibited by our councilpersons during the July hiring hearings in 2021 when several applicants were for the open City Planning Commission. One councilperson spoke in hostile words towards one or more applicants. Disclaimer - one of the applicants happened to be my husband Eugene Tssui. When researching how to send a complaint about a City Council member’s conduct, I discovered that Emeryville had no ethics code. “Who handles complaints against council members?” The reply from the legal department was, “City Council will decide if the complaint is valid.”
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| Emmy Award winning Emeryville resident Elisabeth Montgomery |
One hallmark of a great Code of Ethics is not just writing up a legal template for the city staff and saying it is done. Instead, it requires gathering input from the residents and community. According to legal experts at the Institute for Local Government, the other explicit guarantee to be embedded in the Ethics Code is that the clear objective - when confronted by constituents with challenges to city staff conduct - the City Council should not be the only decision-makers on the issue. Instead, an independent governance body should help decide the case. This will assure elected officials avoid perceptions that their values are based on their views rather than the everyday ethics that determine our laws.
The current Emeryville Mayor must take the next step to inform residents, gather input, set up an oversight committee, and update the Code of Ethics in 2024.
Elisabeth P. Montgomery, Ph.D., GCDF is an international career development educator and an Emmy Award winning documentary film producer. She has lived for 34 years in Emeryville with her husband Eugene Tssui, himself an international architect and author. Mr Tssui's work is currently being shown at the New York Museum of Modern Art. The couple have been advocating for an ethics commission for Emeryville for the last two years. The current Mayor of Emeryville, John Bauters, has recently said NO to the question of an ethics commission for Emeryville.
Our city has people who are internationally celebrated for their abilities and achievements globally and the city council makes no efforts to utilize their abilites to the benefit of the city! Instead of selecting morose and ineffectual members for our planning commission we should find ways to bring these experts in as consultants to the city! My god! Architect, Eugene Tssui, is acknowledged as a pioneer in ecological architecture and city planning by the New York Museum of Modern Art and the city council ignores his desires to be on the planning commission! Tattler Editor you are right, Elisabeth Montgomery is an Emmy Award winning international educator and we do nothing to find her and have her help the city with its collapsing education system and city social and educational programs! Mr. Kers Clausen has been a renowned engineer and expert at marina development in Emeryville for decades! He could help us with sea level rise solutions. Nobody asks him! The city council persons can't seem to see past their own re-election agendas! What does it take for them to see who we have right here in our city?
ReplyDeleteWhat good is a Code of Ethics if the city council themselves are judge and jury for themselves? They won't allow an independent body to govern their words and behaviors because they can evaluate and punish themselves? Rubbish! We need an independent Ombudsman group that critiques the city council, it's decisions, and behaviors, and represents the city's citizens and fights for them. Do you think justice can be served on your own behavior if you are the judge? Most amusing. The only reason the city council has gotten away with this self-judging, twisted mentality and why there has never been a Code of Ethics in the city is that the population has never cared enough to get involved with a city council that doesn't do anything of lasting value for its citizens.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very reasonable request. How does the mayor get off responding with a "no"? You should get him to elaborate. Why no to this? The tattler is not as diligent as it used to be. Don't settle for a one word responce.
ReplyDeleteThe Mayor refused to say anything more. All we can do is ask him and report what he says. Getting him to say more is your job (presuming you are a voter).
DeleteI appreciate all of the above comments. I have lived here since 1974 and have seen numerous coalitions of City Council members
ReplyDeleteWork for the community at large and advocate for developmental enterprises that have not served the community well. Some have been in support of educational and artistic development utilizing those skills of community members who actually live here and whose advocacy is for a strong constellations of environmental, educational, social and artistic culture.
A code of ethic would in my view be fundamental to beginning this process🌿
I can't figure out why the city hates these two people so much. I saw the attacks against Mr Tssui made by the mayor and other council people and I am shocked.
ReplyDelete