Ocean City to Consider Eliminating Ethics Board

City Council will consider the first reading of an amended ordinance that would "eliminate the 'Ethics Committee' from the list of agencies, advisory boards and commissions included in the Administrative Branch."

The discussion and potential vote will decide the fate of a board that was formed in 2006 under the administration of Mayor Sal Perillo as a way for citizens to file complaints about ethics violations among city officials and employees. 

The local board has considered 11 complaints in six years, and its only finding of an ethical violation resulted in a costly appeal in a case that ultimately was dropped for "procedural deficiencies."

City Council members have argued that a state board provides the same ethical oversight, making the local board a potentially costly redundancy.

The discussion will take place at a public City Council meeting 7 p.m. Thursday (April 11) at the Ocean City Free Public Library.

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City Council members showed little enthusiasm for maintaining the local board in a brief discussion on March 28 (2013).

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City Council had approved the first reading of a similar ordinance but reversed its decision in March 2012.
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Read more: "Five Things to Know About City Council's Thursday Agenda"