Daily Herald opinion: Targeting trust: Other suburbs should take heed of village's plans to tighten ethics rules

Mount Prospect village Trustee Augie Filippone feels “targeted” by an ethics ordinance under consideration by the village board. He should, but not him alone.

Mount Prospect’s move to update its ethics policies provide an excellent opportunity not just for that village to ensure that its practices merit the trust of the community’s citizens but for every town, whether it has an ethics policy on the books already or has yet to adopt one, to make certain they are clear and thorough.

Weaknesses of Mount Prospect’s ethics policy have become clear during situations involving Filippone and his wife and law partner Trisha Chokshi, who chairs the village’s Finance Commission. That relationship alone could pose conflict-of-interest issues, but the situation became even more worrisome when on one occasion, Filippone — who routinely and appropriately has recused himself from matters that might involve his law clients — excused himself from a discussion involving a zoning request, left the dais and then returned moments later alongside his wife representing the petitioner.

It certainly seems at least questionable for a trustee, recused or not, to serve during a board meeting as the legal representative for a client with business before the board on which he sits, but without a specific restriction, it’s understandable that Filippone might have believed simply recusing himself provided enough distance to justify his actions. But the situation would certainly raise eyebrows for most citizens, and it definitely muddies the relationship between board members sitting in judgment of matters in the community and the individuals affected by their decisions.

And it’s important for government officials and others with public responsibilities to remember that the appearance of conflict can be as damaging as the actuality.

So, it makes sense that Mount Prospect would revisit and revise its policies to be specific about what is allowed and what is not. Not to target Filippone or any one member, but to make clear what its standards are for ensuring that every elected or appointed village official is held to the highest expectations of trust and unassailable conduct.

Mount Prospect’s revisions, as reported this week by our Steve Zalusky, include barring trustees’ immediate family members from serving on boards and commissions, and they clarify that trustees cannot represent clients before the board. The new ordinance sets penalties ranging from fines to expulsion.

The board’s action is a prudent and reasonable response to unforeseen circumstances that could call into question the propriety of its discussions and decisions. Those circumstances may have involved Filippone, but they opened a window on behaviors that threatened the community’s faith in the members of every village board or commission.

The Mount Prospect board was wise to respond. Any suburb that hasn’t recently examined its own ethics policies would do well to dust them off and make sure they address issues before any potentially affected member demonstrates the need.