MONROE — A former city ethics board member is gathering signatures for an initiative to create a stricter ethics ordinance for Monroe.
"I’m more productive being off the board than being restricted on the board," said Todd Fredrickson, whose term on the panel ended last December.
The initiative would ask voters whether the city’s business contractors should be cleared to serve on its advisory committees such as planning commission.
The city’s current ordinance allows them to do so as long as the contractors disclose their potential conflicts of interest with the city and stay out of the process in such cases.
Fredrickson said the current ordinance is weak.
"Public officials and city staff have the duty of serving the public with undivided loyalty, uninfluenced by any private interest or motive," the initiative says.
To qualify for the ballot, the initiative needs 845 signatures. That’s 15 percent, of Monroe’s 5,636 registered voters.
Fredrickson said he has six months to reach that goal and has already gathered about 150 signatures.
Mayor Donnetta Walser said that an initiative is a part of the democratic process, but added: "My biggest concern is the cost to the city."
The election cost would be about $12,000, and it’s not in the city’s planned budget, she said.
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
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