On Tuesday, February 15th, at 6 PM the DeForest Village Board will likely take a final vote on the new Ethics Code. Your voice and opinion matters. Please attend to observe and speak at Village Hall or over Zoom. You are also welcome to email the whole Village Board at VillageBoard@vi.deforest.wi.us .
I am writing today about a topic very close to my heart: ethics in government. As you may remember, I represent you (the residents of DeForest) on the DeForest Village Board as a duly elected trustee.
What you may not know is that I also represent you on the Ethics Committee. Over these last few months, my colleagues on the Ethics Committee and I have worked diligently to create a new draft of the Village’s Ethics Code to recommend to the Village Board for final editing and approval. Because it had been many years since it had been updated, we suggested a lot of changes, additions, and clarifications. I was very proud of our work and excited to see what the Village Board thought of our draft.
Two important questions came up during the recent Village Board discussion… Should certain village officials, trustees, and trustee candidates be required to fill out a financial disclosure statement so residents know ahead of time about any possible conflicts of interests? Should there be a required 6-month cooling off period between when someone steps away from the Village Board to being hired by the Village for a paid position?
One important component of this process is missing: YOUR voice. Please email or call me to see the most recent version of the Ethics Code draft: lowerya@vi.deforest.wi.us , 608-843-3101. You may also watch the video of our discussion at the last meeting by going to our Village homepage www.vi.deforest.wi.us . Click on "Government" --> "Committees & Commissions" --> "Village Board". Scroll halfway down the page. After you click on the video for the meeting on 2/1/22, go to 2:03:50 to watch the Ethics Code discussion.
