Jan01, 2010, From: Sun Sentinel
For the first time since a corruption scandal ensnared one of its members, the Broward County Commission on Tuesday will vote on an ethics reform measure. The measure doesn't deal with commissoners' own conduct, but with that of their employees.
Commissioners will decide whether any new ethics code imposed on them should also apply to the 6,000 workers who report to them.
Mayor Ken Keechl put the item on the agenda at the behest of a task force assigned to write an ethics code for commissioners.
The task force is concerned that those seeking to exert undue influence over county government would simply turn their attention to top-level employees if commissioners are under stringent ethics rules.
Josephus Eggelletion resigned as a commissioner in mid-December when he pleaded guilty to federal charges that he helped run an international money-laundering scheme.
Eggelletion also faces state charges that he accepted illegal payment from a developer in exchange for favorable treatment in front of the County Commission.
Voters ordered the creation of a task force to draft an ethics code in November 2008 after commissioners failed to do so on their own. The group must finish its work by the start of March, when the commission must accept the new code or place it on the November ballot for voters to decide.
The details of the ethics rules are still being developed.
The task force is working through issues such as whether commissioners can work as lobbyists representing clients in front of other local governments and whether commissioners should have heavy control over which companies win county contracts.