The Newton City Council Rules Subcommittee discussed the creation of a code of conduct at its meeting on Thursday.
According to Ward 5 Councilor Bill Humphrey, the council needs to have clearer behavioral guidelines, especially due to the absence of a human resources department for councilors.
“I definitely feel there has been in the time that I’ve been here that I have seen and witnessed and heard inappropriate remarks and inappropriate conduct, and it is, in a sense, a workplace, and people should not be subjected to that in the workplace.” Humphrey said.
Ward 4 Councilor-at-Large Josh Krintzman agreed that the subcommittee should discuss a potential code of conduct, but also noted the difficulties of enforcing such a code.
“I don’t think I would vote in favor of a code of conduct for which a remedy was expelling a member,” Krintzman said. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have a code of conduct and there shouldn’t be other things that we could do. You know, you can lose committee assignments, you can lose different privileges … I’m more than happy to have that discussion.”
This comes after the whole city council discussed implementing a code of conduct following a harassment incident involving Ward 8 Councilor-at-Large Rick Lipof last term.
The subcommittee also discussed ways to make city government meetings more understandable for the public.
“As a member of the public, you should be able to go to a meeting and understand what’s happening and not be confused by, you know, first call, second call, stuff like that, or what’s coming up tonight versus next time,” Humphrey said.
Ward 7 Councilor Lisle Baker said he believes this initiative wouldn’t require a new City Council rule.
“I think that to the extent that the web page for the City Council and other documents can maybe have a link, [which can say], ‘If you want to know how this works, just click here and we’ll take you there,’” Baker said.
Moving forward, Ward 1 Councilor-at-Large John Oliver said he hopes the subcommittee will have completed its proposed rules by next September, so that the full City Council can vote on them then.
“The goal is to be able to report out by end of calendar year to the full City Council the items that we are considering and any items that we will have completed if there are any,” Oliver said.
