The Town of Windsor has extended the deadline for a survey asking for public input on what ethical values and expectations Windsor residents would like to see town officials held to.
The deadline of the survey is Nov. 26, and it asks respondents to identify their top three most important values from a list, and then asks how important respondents find it that officials act in the public’s best interest, not use their positions for personal gain or benefit, always comply with the law and are held accountable to their peers when they violate values an eventual code of established ethics.
According to the town webpage on the ethics code, a code of ethics is the best way to remove or censure publicly elected or appointed officials when they violate the public’s trust, either personally or in their role as public servants, but do not qualify for immediate removal or discipline by currently established laws.
“The Town of Windsor’s elected and appointed officials (such as town council) are already subject to an extensive set of laws that govern the ethical aspects of public service, which covers areas such as criminal misconduct in office; conflicts of interest; campaign contributions; disclosure of personal economic interests; and receipt of loans, gifts, travel payments and honoraria,” the page reads. “However, there are gaps in these laws that an ethics code can fill. A code of ethics creates a set of aspirations for behavior based on values associated with public service held by elected and appointed officials and the communities they serve.”
The push to develop a code of ethics in Windsor began when Dominic Foppoli refused to step down as mayor amid sexual assault and misconduct allegations last spring, and the remaining council members were faced with an inconvenient reality: although a criminal case had been opened against the now-former mayor, a criminal conviction, which could take months or years if it comes at all, would be required to remove him from office involuntarily.
Foppoli eventually resigned in June, after a ninth woman, television personality Farrah Abraham, revealed to the San Francisco Chronicle that she had filed charges against him in Palm Beach, Florida. However, the Windsor Town Council had already directed Town Manager Ken MacNab to begin looking into ways to ensure a similar situation would never happen again.
MacNab said that the impetus was the council’s powerlessness to act on calls from the public to do something with teeth in response to the Foppoli allegations—remove him from office or take some disciplinary action.
“Council called for a process to address misconduct and asked staff to pursue a number of different things,” MacNab said.
He reported out to the council members in a standing agenda item at the start of each town council meeting starting May 5, and council agreed the best way to protect the town against the personal misconduct of elected and appointed officials would be to develop a code of ethics and community expectations all those occupying town office would be subject to.
Council and MacNab agreed that a code of ethical standards with procedures for misconduct would be the best way to respond to a similar situation in the future, and during the June 2 budget hearing, just after Foppoli’s resignation, council members allocated $10,000 to the venture.
The town has partnered with Regional Government Services (RGS), a public agency that assists governments with projects like these, to develop the code of ethics. The first step will be to gather public input and take it back to the town council.
Members of the public can provide their input by responding to the survey, or by emailing the Town Manager’s office through this form. RGS has prepared a video introducing the concept of values-based ethics.
Staff will take the results of the survey to the town council at their Dec. 15 meeting. Staff will then work with consultants to prepare the standards of ethics and procedures to handle misconduct for review and potential action by the town council early next year.
“An ethics code does a couple of things in my opinion,” MacNab said. “It will set the expectations of ethical conduct clearly for councilmembers, officials and the community. It will provide a process for the council to follow when there are instances of misconduct. Right now we don’t have anything in writing about the expectations of councilmembers or officials. In the future if there is misconduct, it will be reviewed, and could then lead to censure or losing committee assignments.”
While MacNab said the town council would not be able to remove a sitting official who refused to step down, there are avenues to pursue if need be.
“The other important piece of this is we learned that when there is misconduct by a council member, while the council cannot remove them, there is a grand jury procedure where the grand jury could review for removal,” MacNab said.
The case could be referred to the District’s Attorney’s Office where a Sonoma County Grand Jury could be convened to decide whether the official should be removed. MacNab emphasized that law enforcement, not the town council, would investigate criminal allegations.
A criminal case against Dominic Foppoli, being headed up by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office and the California State Attorney General’s Office, is currently underway. Detectives recently executed a search warrant at Foppoli’s Windsor home, reportedly seizing electronic devices.
