The Battle Ground City Council will put its ethics ordinance to use less than three months after its adoption.
Mayor Mike Ciraulo has received this week two complaints against two different council members. The complaints were filed by two different people; only city council members can file ethics complaints.
The city’s ethics ordinance, which was adopted Aug. 16, requires Ciraulo keep the names of those involved and the circumstances of the complaints confidential in the initial stages.
The complaints will now be handed over to the ethics committee. On Monday night, the city council appointed council members Bill Ganley and Chris Regan to serve on the committee with Ciraulo.
The committee will convene to review the complaints. If a complaint has merit, it will be forwarded to the whole council for review and possible action. At that point, the allegations and names of those involved would become public record. If a complaint is deemed to be without merit, the details will remain confidential, as required by the ethics ordinance.
Ciraulo said he hopes to have the committee review of the complaints completed by the council’s next meeting on Nov. 15.
The ordinance prohibits all city officials from being involved in activities that could be seen as conflicting with the conduct of city business; using his or her position to secure personal benefit or special privileges; using city property, materials or money for personal or private gain; and giving or receiving compensation for a matter connected to the city, among others.
The ordinance also outlines appropriate conduct of council members and gives the council the authority to reprimand those who violate the ordinance.
The complaints follow Monday’s city council meeting that was heated at times. During the public comment portion of the meeting, accusations were made against two city council members.
Battle Ground Cinema owner Elie Kassab spoke about the city council considering an admissions tax. He said nobody told him about the possible tax and he never talked with a council member about the tax, despite one council member’s claim to have done so.
Ciraulo asked Kassab to identify the council member. Kassab named Paul Zandamela.
The issue arose again later in the meeting when Ciraulo asked Zandamela about past statements he made regarding the admissions tax, and Councilwoman Lisa Walters accused Zandamela of misinforming the council.
The other accusation involved a council member who was not named.
Clark County Fire & Rescue Chief Dennis Mason and IAFF Local 3674 President Jason Leavitt said a council member wrote derogatory comments about the department and inaccurate information about the union’s annual Fill the Boot fundraiser on Facebook.
While the specifics of the comments were not revealed, Mason and Leavitt stressed that the firefighters participating in the fundraiser were off-duty and the department’s response times to emergencies were not compromised by the event.
It is unclear if the ethics complaints are related to either incident.
Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546 or marissa.harshman@columbian.com.
