Arlington Hts. board liberalizes ethics policy

Without public discussion, the Arlington Heights village board Monday approved changes in its ethics policy and ordinance.

The changed policy clearly says a representative of a firm can appear before a board or commission on which the firm’s owner sits.

“ ... The member shall recuse himself from that project and leave the meeting,” the policy now says about the firm’s owner.

Trustee Joseph Farwell challenged the interpretation of the policy in August after three architects quit the Design Commission rather than give up the option of doing business in Arlington Heights that required action by the village board or any other local panel.

In September the board had a lengthy discussion and directed the village’s legal staff to draft changes.

Farwell said after Monday’s meeting that he was pleased with the change.

“This gives us the latitude of doing what we’ve always been doing through the years,” Farwell said. “It’s a codification of what we used to do.”

He called the legal opinion that led to the resignations “maybe a slightly aggressive interpretation of the ethics standards.”

Farwell called that opinion “too conservative” and said it went above and beyond the state statutes. He called the new language “more in line with the state of Illinois.”

He said he hoped the members of the Design Commission who resigned would reapply now. They are Ted Eckhardt, Jim Tinaglia and Kirsten Kingsley.

Members of other village commissions who had thought about resigning have now said they would continue to serve, Farwell said.

Robin Ward, assistant village attorney, said after the meeting that trustees accepted the new language without discussion because they had had time to study it and apparently had no questions.

The sentence that was removed from the ordinance was the one that prompted Village Attorney Jack Siegel in September to rule there was no difference between a professional representing someone before a village panel or having a member of his or her firm do the presentation, Ward said.

That sentence read: “It is further policy of the Village that all appearances of impropriety shall be avoided.”

The following sentence was added instead:

“It is the responsibility of all elected and appointed officials to maintain the highest standards of ethical behavior by acting with steadfast integrity, unconditional impartiality and a total devotion to the best interests of the Village and its residents.”

Siegel told trustees in September that he thought he was right, but the board could change the policy and the ordinance.