The Ethical Hazards of City Council Members Attending Other Board Meetings

“As innocent as a council member’s motives may be, when he or she personally attends a planning commission meeting or another subordinate committee meeting, he or she may be crossing an ethical boundary.”

“Council members do not violate any laws by attending commission meetings. However, they run the risk of:

• Potentially revealing a biased view, thereby causing their own disqualification should the matter at hand subsequently come before the council;

• Interfering with the role of the commission as an independent advisory body; and

• Not acting in accordance with the views of the city council as a whole.”

Go here to view or download the full article “The Ethical Hazards of City Council Members Attending Other Board Meetings.”

© 2010 League of California Cities. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from the December 2010 issue of Western City magazine, the monthly publication of the League of California Cities. For more information, visit www.westerncity.com.