Allegations of a public official’s ethical misconduct shouldn’t be taken lightly.

That is why the city established a code of ethics and an Ethics Board in 2005, to independently review allegations leveled at public servants.

But after a year and a half in service, even the members of the Ethics Board believe their powers and purview are woefully inadequate.

“We don’t think the current system is robust – the current scheme doesn’t allow us to do justice to folks involved,” said board member Michael Piraino.

The board has been stifled by what members see as fundamental flaws in the city’s code of ethics, and how the board is allowed to handle allegations.

In an effort to change that, the five-person, citizen-based board has composed a list of recommendations to be reviewed by the council this month.

“Trust in government is what we really want,” said board chair Barbara Kerr. “We want to avoid conflicts but also the perception of a conflict of interest, its about transparency, which adds to trust.”

It is also a struggle to generate awareness of the board and to get officials to embrace the ethics code.

The board is charged with giving waivers to public officials who may be facing an ethical dilemma. Public servants can raise a questionable situation to the board, which can then give the official a waiver or advice on the situation.

“That is something we haven’t had happen yet,” Piraino said. “I would love to see more people come over for advice.”

That hasn’t happened, some believe, because the ethics board could be seen as a dummy organization.

“There could be a perception (among officials) that we have this toothless tiger ethics board, so we’ve solved the problem of ethics,” said member Susan Buckles.

Members point out that that original draft ethics code had a much broader process, but that was reduced significantly between the ethics code’s conception in 2003 and its adoption in 2005.

“It was really watered down,” said Charles Schmid, who worked on crafting the original ethics code.

The ethics board started out after a conflict allegation was leveled against a city employee by a council member in 2003. At that time there was no body or code of ethics to deal with such an allegation.

A group of citizens drafted the original ethics code, which was meant to apply to all staff, committees, commissions and public officials.

In the end, it only applied to elected officials. Even the first complaint to the Ethics Board regarded an issue of conflict of interest on the Open Space Committee, an issue beyond the board’s jurisdiction.

“We envisioned (the board) would have confidential meetings to look into allegations,” Schmid said. “The poor Ethics Board right now, all they get is a piece of paper, the city clerk takes all the names off, and all they can do is make a recommendation as to what the code of ethics should be.”

As it stands now the Ethics Board receives and accusation, with all names redacted, and has to make a recommendation based on those allegations, whether they are factual or not.

“Right now we get these cases and we have no way of knowing what’s true and what’s not,” Kerr said. “We wouldn’t make a judgment because we don’t know the facts of the case. It comes to a real dilemma for us: how can we put out something without knowing the facts?”

One of the board’s recommendations proposes broadening the process so that those accused can respond to allegations. The board would still refrain from passing judgment – it would be up to the city council to investigate egregious ethical violations – but the board can make a more informed opinions and recommendations on matters.

Another measure, to extend the board’s purview to all committees and commissions would be contingent on fixing the lack of due process within the current process.

There should also be an overarching code of ethics that could be agreed upon by all involved in city government, and that a “disclosure of public interest” agenda item would become a standard fare at all public meetings, members said.

If those objectives are realized, “eventually we could have a robust values system,” Piraino said

Despite current frustrations with the process, members feel the city is slowly moving toward more transparency, and that an overhaul of the board will be the first significant motion toward a more open government.

“I would say that it is impressive how far the city has come… there is a lot of willingness to do some of the things were talking about,” Piraino said. “A couple year ago I don’t think that support would have been there. This has come along at a time in the country’s life where these kinds of issues have been raised so much now that it would be hard not to at least have some movement towards ethical culture at the city.”