San Mateo County Board of Supervisors will consider establishing an official code of conduct to set forth standards to which its members must be held, in an effort to build trust with the community and maintain collegiality between one another.
Co-sponsored by Supervisor Jackie Speier and board President David Canepa, the code looks to assure the public of the board’s commitment to “integrity, effectiveness, respectfulness, and fairness,” according to a staff report. The county currently does not have a code for its board.
With 10 established principles to follow, most focus on how supervisors speak and work with another to assure collaboration and integrity.
“The Code articulates the Board’s commitment to the highest ideals of integrity and its recognition that advancing the public interest and betterment of the community are its members’ primary concern,” the staff report reads.
If approved, supervisors may be censured if they violate the code.
Speier said the effort to establish a code of conduct was because she was “deeply troubled” by the lack of decorum at various board meetings in the past and how board members spoke to one another. Citing that many other governing bodies have their own codes of conduct, she felt it was time.
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Canepa praised Speier for her leadership on the matter and is pleased to be its co-sponsor.
“It is my duty and the entire Board’s duty to demonstrate the highest standards of conduct and ethics not just on the dais but in our everyday responsibilities as elected officials to ensure the public’s trust,” Canepa said.
After working with County Attorney John Nibbelin, Speier said she believes the county has been long overdue for such a code. This is Speier’s first proposed resolution since being sworn into office Jan. 4.
“We want to start on a new footing and I think this will help to accomplish that,” Speier said.
The code will be voted upon at the upcoming board meeting Jan. 14.
Interestingly David Canepa - as commissioner of MTC - has been called out by several Mercury News editorials now for allowing MTC staff to create a slush fund and re-routing money that voters wanted spent on Public Transportation and Active Transportation projects.
David Canepa was also essential in re-routing Active Transportation funding away from pedestrian bridges and towards a highway widening increasing childhood asthma in Equity Priority Areas.
As member of the SamTrans board he was also instrumental in reducing customer service, but buying and upgrading 2 or 3 new office buildings nobody needed. The residents are also waiting for promised bus shelters - a project "in the works" for over 2 years now.
So excuse the residents if they don't take David Canepa's concern about "conduct" too serious.
STOP THE STEAL
Board members Ray Mueller and Noelia Corzo will have to prove that they are better at stopping SMCTA money being stolen by city managers for car-projects with funny names: "Slow Streets", "Bicycle Boulevards", "Greenways", "Hawk Signals", "Traffic Calming", or speed humps. None of these improves the lives of cyclists or pedestrians, they only create more dangerous scenarios for them. Their seriousness about "conduct" will be watched, when the city of San Mateo is planning to take away bike lanes from low-income school children.
With more important issues that San Mateo County needs to address all we get are so-called officials wasting time on a code of silence masquerading as a code of conduct? Apparently policing free speech is more important than policing our County. Let’s assume folks say they’ll abide by a potentially illegal code of conduct, why can’t they get surrogates/supporters to do their bidding. And does anyone care if they’re censured – they’re still employed? I envision a potential $10 million lawsuit against SMC for infringing on First Amendment rights. If folks can’t handle being criticized, get out of politics. BTW, if so-called SMC officials have that much time to waste on a code of silence, let’s cut their positions to half-time, or less. On a side note, can citizens censure the Board? And will the Board care – they still have their jobs, for now.
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Interestingly David Canepa - as commissioner of MTC - has been called out by several Mercury News editorials now for allowing MTC staff to create a slush fund and re-routing money that voters wanted spent on Public Transportation and Active Transportation projects.
David Canepa was also essential in re-routing Active Transportation funding away from pedestrian bridges and towards a highway widening increasing childhood asthma in Equity Priority Areas.
As member of the SamTrans board he was also instrumental in reducing customer service, but buying and upgrading 2 or 3 new office buildings nobody needed. The residents are also waiting for promised bus shelters - a project "in the works" for over 2 years now.
So excuse the residents if they don't take David Canepa's concern about "conduct" too serious.
STOP THE STEAL
Board members Ray Mueller and Noelia Corzo will have to prove that they are better at stopping SMCTA money being stolen by city managers for car-projects with funny names: "Slow Streets", "Bicycle Boulevards", "Greenways", "Hawk Signals", "Traffic Calming", or speed humps. None of these improves the lives of cyclists or pedestrians, they only create more dangerous scenarios for them. Their seriousness about "conduct" will be watched, when the city of San Mateo is planning to take away bike lanes from low-income school children.
With more important issues that San Mateo County needs to address all we get are so-called officials wasting time on a code of silence masquerading as a code of conduct? Apparently policing free speech is more important than policing our County. Let’s assume folks say they’ll abide by a potentially illegal code of conduct, why can’t they get surrogates/supporters to do their bidding. And does anyone care if they’re censured – they’re still employed? I envision a potential $10 million lawsuit against SMC for infringing on First Amendment rights. If folks can’t handle being criticized, get out of politics. BTW, if so-called SMC officials have that much time to waste on a code of silence, let’s cut their positions to half-time, or less. On a side note, can citizens censure the Board? And will the Board care – they still have their jobs, for now.
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