When then Nassau District Attorney Madeline Singas wrote a scathing opinion about Long Beach’s payout scandal 18 months ago, she said the city needed an “active” board of ethics.
A resident, Andrew Keen, noted at a city council meeting Tuesday night that no such board yet exists, at least the way Singas had intended.
“What has the council done to establish a board of ethics,?” Keen asked. He said he had volunteered to serve on such board, but had heard nothing about it.
The city has a committee that hears whether an action by an employee is ethical or unethical. But Singas wanted more, after a group of employees received payouts in amounts the city said they were not entitled to.
Singas said in a letter, “I call upon the City of Long Beach to ensure that its Board of Ethics is constituted, active, and prepared to educate employees and officials regarding the Code of Ethics, conflict rules and disclose requirements to guard against future abuses and conflicts of interest.”
Councilmember Roy Lester said, “I don’t think we’ve had a board of ethics meeting in years. I am going to do anything I can to make sure this happens.”
Councilmember John Bendo added: “The type of (board) Mr. Keen is talking about is what we all want but it doesn’t exist in the (City) Charter.”
Council members indicated a change would be needed to the Charter to institute the type of ethics board they want.
