Residents talked, and the city listened to their concerns about the proposed Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct. Those concerns were addressed in the most recent draft, which the Durango City Council reviewed Tuesday during a study session.

“After public input at two workshops, we changed the Board of Ethics to five people appointed at-large by the council,” said Mary Beth Miles, assistant to the city manager. “The city manager and the city attorney would serve as advisers.”

The original draft had a three-person Board of Ethics composed of the city manager, the city attorney and the presiding municipal judge. The second version, which was what participants in the workshops reviewed, had added two at-large positions, but community members worried that the board might be reviewing people who reported directly to them, or people to whom they reported.

The new draft also included several other suggestions community members had made in the workshops, including confidentiality until a complaint moves ahead in the process and assigning the Board of Ethics the responsibility of also serving in an advisory capacity to city officials.

Mayor Sweetie Marbury, councilors Dean Brookie, Christina Rinderle and Dick White, who was participating via telephone, agreed with those changes in the draft proposal.

After some discussion the councilors agreed that at least three of the five must live within city limits.

“The key thing is to get people with expertise and passion,” White said.

The revised draft code will be posted on the city’s website, and the council is planning to accept public comment at its Sept. 2 meeting, with a proposed vote Sept. 16.

Also at the study session, city council:

Agreed to instruct parking enforcement officers to stop writing tickets after 4 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month to support local art galleries in their First Thursday activities. The council hopes to implement the idea on the first Thursday in September.

“We’re not losing a lot of revenue,” Marbury said, “but we’re encouraging people to come down and enjoy the activities our art galleries hold, go shopping, enjoy the restaurants.”

Agreed to encourage La Plata County residents to use the single-stream recycling center in the Tech Center. The budget for the year had the city breaking even on recycling, but usage by county residents is down, probably because of the Colorado Department of Transportation’s construction at the U.S. Highway 550/160 intersection. The city is currently looking at a $20,000 deficit on recycling, City Manager Ron LeBlanc said.

abutler@durangoherald.com

On the Net

City of Durango’s virtual city hall: www.durangogov.org/virtualcityhall