BY KIRK STARRATT
Kings County Advertiser/Register
Kings County councillors adopted a code of conduct for council members at their May 4 session.
The code is one of many recommendations made by consultants who conducted a recent operational review of the County of Kings and council.
Deputy Warden Diana Brothers asked colleagues in April’s committee of the whole session, following the presentation of the consultant’s report and recommendations the week before, to pursue the code.
Warden Fred Whalen said the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities (UNSM) has had a code of conduct available for municipal units to adopt for the past two years. The document Kings adopted is a version of this, modified by interim chief administrative officer Don Smeltzer.
The code of conduct will be displayed so everyone can see which council members sign it.
“I think it’s about time we did it,” Whalen said on adopting the code. “We are the third-largest municipality. We should be a leader instead of a follower.”
The last Whalen heard, 44 of 55 municipalities in the province have adopted the proposed code, or a version of it.
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The code adopted by council states the document “establishes guidelines for the ethical interpersonal conduct of members of council. The council is answerable to the community through democratic process and this code assists in providing for the good government of the Municipality of the County of Kings.”
The code covers standards of conduct, council member responsibilities, good governance, government relationships, conflict of interest avoidance, reporting breaches and corrective action.
In terms of reporting breaches, the document states people who have reason to believe the code has been breached are encouraged to bring their concerns forward. No adverse action will be taken against any member of council or municipal employee acting in good faith who brings such information forward.
If an investigation finds a member has breached a provision of the code, council may impose corrective action “commensurate with the nature and severity of the breach, which may include a formal warning or reprimand to the member.”
