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Record of Proceedings

Ethics Board Meeting Summary - December 12, 2025

Boards and Commissions — Friday, December 12, 2025
BodyRochester, Minnesota
SessionBoards and Commissions
DateFriday, December 12, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 33:46

Transcript — Verbatim
0:05

Thanks everybody for being here in December.

0:09

I will go ahead and call the meeting to order.

0:12

We don't have a lot on the agenda today.

0:14

We kind of have some time for open discussion as we lead into next year.

0:17

So I'll just jump in.

0:19

The first thing is to approve the minutes from our last meeting, which was October 16.

0:23

Comment on that?

0:24

Yes, that's really.

0:25

I think there might be a typo.

0:26

Okay.

0:27

So on the first part for the sixth A, it says I've none and then result approved.

0:34

I think no I think defining the denying.

0:38

Yes.

0:38

And then just looking to see if sorry, you said six.

0:44

Ah, yeah.

0:44

Yeah, we have a mover and a secondary and no eyes and then approved.

0:49

Yeah, that's probably a table.

0:51

Oh, I for sure.

0:52

Yep.

0:53

Okay.

0:54

Yeah, you catch thanks.

0:55

Um anything else?

1:00

Great.

1:00

So I assume we could move to just amend those and approve them as amended or something along those lines, everybody.

1:09

Okay.

1:10

I'll make a motion to after the meeting that's with that small time.

1:16

Okay.

1:16

Thank you.

1:17

All those in favor.

1:18

I great.

1:21

As always, thanks, Jeremy, for preparing those.

1:24

Okay, thanks for catching that.

1:25

Um all right, great.

1:27

Um moving on.

1:28

Our second order of business is to welcome a new member.

1:32

So we have um Nick Nedland.

1:34

You know I make usually.

1:35

Nick is great.

1:36

Okay, awesome.

1:37

Well, uh, Nick's a new member, um, filling the unexpired term from Christine.

1:42

Uh looks like his term will expire April 2028.

1:44

So be here for a couple of years and sleep longer if you decide to stick around.

1:49

Great.

1:50

So um welcome and thanks for being here.

1:52

Did you want to say anything so much?

1:53

Yeah.

1:53

Um, no, I wanted to uh participate in something.

1:59

Uh you know, and so when it came across, uh I am uh I'm in human resources, um director of people and culture, so uh ethics kind of was right in that line of things that I uh do on a daily basis, whether it's um you know investigations or uh just kind of looking out for the best interest of our employees.

2:20

So it uh you know I was very excited when I read about it.

2:24

I'm excited to see what it's all about and participate and uh the best way I can.

2:28

Great.

2:29

Well, glad maybe that's that's how some of us got involved too.

2:32

I think it's just wanting to be involved in something.

2:34

So thanks for taking the time and joining.

2:37

Super.

2:39

All right.

2:39

Um well, moving on.

2:42

We have an agenda.

2:43

I don't have any changes I wanted to make.

2:45

I assume is everybody okay with the order of the agenda as written.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Ethics And Governance█████████████████████████████████████████████61%
Procedural█████████████████████28%
Public Engagement████████11%
Summary of Proceedings

Ethics Board Meeting Summary - December 12, 2025

The Ethics Board convened for its December meeting to approve amended minutes, welcome a new member, and discuss priorities for the 2026 agenda. The meeting focused on refining ordinance definitions regarding "city agency" and inter-departmental cooperation, reviewing complaint intake procedures, and establishing meeting schedules for the upcoming year.

Consent Calendar

  • The board voted unanimously to approve the minutes from the October 16 meeting, after a motion to correct a typo where "denying" was transcribed as "none" in section 6A.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments or formal testimony were received. The Chair noted that a formal complaint process exists but that official complaints must follow a specific written and signed procedure rather than being raised during open comment. A board member confirmed that these guidelines were successfully shared with the Police Policy Oversight Commission as a reference.

Discussion Items

  • Welcome of New Member: The board welcomed Nick Nedland, the new director of people and culture, who is filling the unexpired term of Christine. Nick expressed strong support for the board's mission, specifically citing his professional background in human resources and ethics as a driving factor for his participation.
  • Ordinance Definition Revisions (Section 2.16): Board member Bob initiated a discussion to amend the definitions page of the code of ethics ordinance to ensure all official titles and entities are capitalized. Specifically, speakers argued for capitalizing "Common Council," "Mayor," "Board," and "City Agency" to reflect their official status.
  • Definition of "City Agency": The board identified a lack of clarity regarding the term "city agency" in the current document. Speakers expressed a need to add a specific definition citing examples such as the city housing authority (which has independent budgeting) and collaborative efforts with other cities, distinguishing them from standard city departments.
  • Revised Cooperation Language (Section 2.6.7.E.11): Discussion centered on changing the board's statutory power to "cooperate" with the Human Resources Department to language implying a more equal footing. Speakers strongly supported changing the term from "cooperate" (which implies a subordinate suggestion) to "collaborate" or "work in tandem" to better reflect the relationship between two separate entities.
  • 2026 Priorities: The board discussed focusing on:
    • Reducing spurious complaints by refining the intake form and website routing (311 system).
    • Receiving data updates from the 311 system regarding ethics-related inquiries.
    • Formalizing a recommendation process to the City Council regarding code changes, specifically the new definitions.
  • Meeting Schedule & Attendance: The board agreed to maintain the third Thursday of each month at 10:30 AM for 2026. A discussion highlighted the importance of communicating absences to staff liaison Jody to maintain quorum, with a preference for "excused" absences (often citing PFML) over "unexcused" ones, while maintaining the Chair's right to review the validity of reasons provided.
  • New Member Training: Speakers emphasized the value of the Mayor's office's annual board and commission training (scheduled for mid-January) and the board's own May orientation. There was support for ensuring new members have access to recorded sessions of both trainings to establish a baseline of ethics knowledge.

Key Outcomes

  • Action Item Agreed: The board will task members and City Staff to draft proposed language for the "City Agency" definition and the "collaborate vs. cooperate" revision. This memo will be reviewed at the January meeting before a formal recommendation is forwarded to the City Council.
  • Meeting Confirmation: The January 2026 meeting is confirmed to proceed as scheduled to allow for the review of the proposed language drafts.
  • Procedural Clarification: The City Attorney clarified that the board's obligation to address complaints extends beyond the online form to include any situation discovered by a board member that appears to violate ethics statutes, treating such discoveries as formal complaints.

Meeting Transcript

Thanks everybody for being here in December. I will go ahead and call the meeting to order. We don't have a lot on the agenda today. We kind of have some time for open discussion as we lead into next year. So I'll just jump in. The first thing is to approve the minutes from our last meeting, which was October 16. Comment on that? Yes, that's really. I think there might be a typo. Okay. So on the first part for the sixth A, it says I've none and then result approved. I think no I think defining the denying. Yes. And then just looking to see if sorry, you said six. Ah, yeah. Yeah, we have a mover and a secondary and no eyes and then approved. Yeah, that's probably a table. Oh, I for sure. Yep. Okay. Yeah, you catch thanks. Um anything else? Great. So I assume we could move to just amend those and approve them as amended or something along those lines, everybody. Okay. I'll make a motion to after the meeting that's with that small time. Okay. Thank you. All those in favor. I great. As always, thanks, Jeremy, for preparing those. Okay, thanks for catching that. Um all right, great. Um moving on. Our second order of business is to welcome a new member. So we have um Nick Nedland. You know I make usually. Nick is great. Okay, awesome. Well, uh, Nick's a new member, um, filling the unexpired term from Christine. Uh looks like his term will expire April 2028. So be here for a couple of years and sleep longer if you decide to stick around. Great. So um welcome and thanks for being here. Did you want to say anything so much? Yeah. Um, no, I wanted to uh participate in something. Uh you know, and so when it came across, uh I am uh I'm in human resources, um director of people and culture, so uh ethics kind of was right in that line of things that I uh do on a daily basis, whether it's um you know investigations or uh just kind of looking out for the best interest of our employees. So it uh you know I was very excited when I read about it. I'm excited to see what it's all about and participate and uh the best way I can.

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