City Council will soon have a similar code of conduct policy to the one employees are following.
During a regular meeting of Humboldt City Council on January 14, Mayor Malcolm Eaton presented the Council Code of Conduct Policy.
"This has been in the works for awhile," said Eaton. "It is modelled under the policies recently adopted for the City of Saskatoon and the City of Moose Jaw."
The policy outlines conduct for different topics like statutory obligations, appropriate use of city assets and services, gifts and benefits, actions during civic elections, leaves of absence and compliance.
"With the help of City Clerk, Sandra (Pauli), we have gone through this and adapted it to meet our needs for the City of Humboldt," said Eaton. "This is a parallel policy regarding our conduct of our affairs to the one we recently adopted for our staff. "
The document is not just to inform Council of proper conduct, it will also provide direction and protection.
"We have not had a document like this before for our staff or council in the past but I think it is a very appropriate one," Eaton said.
"I see this much like our employee policy as being a document we put in place," said Eaton. "In a period of time, like a year from now, we ask the question is it working and anything risen throughout the year to amend."
All the councillors were happy with the policy, but a few had questions about wording and Coun. Leon Fleischhacker suggested a lawyer look it over.
"This is something that is going to be carried forward to future councils," agreed Coun. Rob Muench. "I think we need to ensure that it is done right."
"I like the idea that it is reflecting a lot of the staff policy," said Muench. "We are putting ourselves in the same light, and transparency is welcome as well."
Once the policy has been looked at by a lawyer, it will be brought back to council for final adoption.
