Metro Council Defers Ethics Bill

The Metro Council voted last night to indefinitely defer an ethics bill. It would’ve required more financial disclosure from council members and their families.

The major sticking point was over a new Board of Conduct, which would be responsible for enforcing ethics rule and following up on complaints against council members.

An ethics task force met for months to draft new ethics rules for the Metro Council. They recommended that appointments to the Board of Conduct come from community groups like the League of Women Voters and the Nashville Bar Association.

But Councilman Randy Foster proposed an amendment to give the Mayor authority to appoint members, with approval from the council.

Councilman John Summers says, neither proposal is fully satisfactory.

“There’s some concerns that their recommendations are too political because of the special interests that are recommended by the board. You know, my concern with Councilman Foster’s proposal, and he agrees, is that is puts in a different political system that the mayor appoints and we confirm. So hopefully over the next few weeks, we’re going to try to grapple with the issue of how do we, how do we come up with a fair, impartial board that’s not political on either side.”

With the ethics bill indefinitely deferred, it is unclear when or if council members will vote on it again.