October 26, 2009

WARREN -  Attorney General Mike Cox today unveiled a new website offering local governments model resources for implementing ethics and Open Meetings Act policies.  Once implemented, the model plans can help municipalities across Michigan better attract families and job makers by setting new standards for transparency and ethical behavior in local government. 

The new Ethics in Local Government package represents the most thorough guide of its kind anywhere in the nation, presenting municipalities with a step-by-step guide to implementing their own local ethics standards.  The model ordinance, assembled by state attorneys, provides municipalities with guidelines on adopting gift bans, prohibiting the use of public resources for personal gain, prohibiting regulatory actions by a public official or employee concerning a business entity in which that public official or employee has a financial or personal interest, prohibiting public officials from placing relatives on public payrolls and requiring annual financial disclosure statements from public officials, as well as many other standards of conduct. 

The package, available at www.Michigan.gov/Ethics, also includes disclosure templates, related links and a guide to the Open Meetings Act to help ensure local governments fully understand government transparency requirements currently in state law. 

"Now more than ever, our government officials must send a clear message to job makers that they'll get a fair shake here in Michigan," said Cox.  "And, taxpayers should know their hard-earned money is being used wisely.  It is time to make Michigan a national leader in ethics and transparency." 

The ordinance includes options for the creation of a local Ethics Ombudsperson, a local Board of Ethics and the legal process for the filing and disposition of ethics complaints.  Language is provided for the establishment of sanctions including fines and jail time.

 "As mayor of Michigan's third largest city, I immediately instituted a Code of Ethics as a condition of employment for all mayoral appointees," said Warren Mayor Jim Fouts.  "My goal as mayor is to change Warren's image as 'Scandaltown, USA' to ?Proud City, USA. '  There is no higher priority in local government than promoting trust, honesty and integrity for all elected and appointed officials. I enthusiastically endorse Attorney General Mike Cox's Model Ethics Ordinance for Local Units of Government. These reforms are long overdue."

            Cox's website and local government resource represent the next step in a continuing effort to make Michigan government more ethical and transparent.  Other recent initiatives undertaken by the Attorney General include:

•       Legislation requiring state and local elected officials making more than $65,000 per year, candidates for those offices, and immediate family to give an annual reporting of gifts and reimbursements from lobbyists when their aggregate value exceeds $250 per year, per lobbyist. 

•       Legislation requiring state legislators to abstain from voting when they have a conflict of interest. 

•       Pushing for state spending to be placed in a searchable online database, allowing taxpayers to see how their money is spent.  Cox was the first statewide official to place his departmental spending online in 2008 (www.michigan.gov/trackyourtaxes).

•       Becoming the first Michigan official to voluntarily release personal financial data, including tax returns covering the last three years (www.michigan.gov/trackyourtaxes). 

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