THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE ETHICS April 22-23, 1993 1:15 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Joseph Donahue, Chair Ed Granger Margie MacNeille Shirley McCoy Edith Vorderstrasse Senator Jay Kerttula Senator Drue Pearce Representative Jerry Mackie Representative Brian Porter 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 1:15 p.m. by Chairman Joseph Donahue in the Butrovich Room of the Capitol in Juneau. Members present were: Donahue, Granger, Kerttula, Mackie, MacNeille, McCoy, Pearce, Porter, and Vorderstrasse. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF MEETING OF APRIL 15, 1993 Mr. Granger moved and asked unanimous consent that the minutes of the April 15, 1993 meeting be approved. There was no objection and the motion was adopted. 3. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA Ms. McCoy asked that an item be added under Administrative Procedures to discuss the format to be used for the minutes. This was added as item 4a. Representative Mackie asked that the item "requests from the public to be heard" be added to this agenda and all future agendas. This was added as item 3a. Mr. Donahue announced his intention to go into a Senate subcommittee meeting between 2 and 3 p.m. so that the two senators would be able to participate. With those changes, the agenda was adopted. 3a. REQUESTS FROM THE PUBLIC TO BE HEARD Mr. Donahue asked if there was anyone in the public that wished to comment during the meeting on any of the items. There were none. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES FOR OPEN MEETINGS 5. PROCESSES AND JURISDICTIONS 4A. MINUTES FORMAT Ms. McCoy suggested that the minutes include a heading for each item of the agenda to facilitate quick reference. It was agreed that the minutes would be done in this fashion in the future. 4B & 5. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES/PROCESSES AND JURISDICTIONS Mr. Donahue stated it was his intention to sort the mail and present the information directly to the appropriate subcommittee. All legislators having complaints filed against them to date would be receiving a copy of the complaint within the next day. Regarding complaints filed that are not sworn to or in some way do not meet the procedures set out, the chair would receive and review all mail addressed to the committee, and when the complaints are improperly submitted, will return the materials to the person filing the complaint with instructions for proper filing. The committee would retain only the letter informing the person of the situation without reference to any specifics of the complaint. Regarding anonymous information received by the committee, it was agreed that the appropriate subcommittee or if necessary, the committee as a whole, would review the information to determine if there was valid concern for the committee to file a complaint. Copies of the complaint would not be made until the committee determined if the complaint was to be considered. Regarding complaints that do not specify what the violation was or who it was against, the committee agreed to review it by the subcommittee or as a committee of the whole as the situation dictated. In both the anonymous requests and the nonspecific requests, control numbers would be assigned. With regard to information advisory opinions, the committee agreed to rely on Terry Cramer to give advice on routine and mid-level questions. Written advisory opinions should be drafted with legal assistance, LAA or hired legal services when the occasion required. The committee also agreed that if they give responses to questions, it should be with the caveat that binding responses needed to be submitted as formal written opinion to the committee. The committee then discussed how to handle confidential materials. The committee had agreed at its last meeting not to fax these materials. The committee agreed that time was needed to read and digest the materials prior to acting on the issues, and therefore, the materials would be sent certified mail, addressee only, return receipt requested prior to a meeting. It was the preference whenever possible that these items be hand-delivered. Representative Porter indicated concern with having legislative employees involved in the committee's business. Mr. Donahue indicated that it was his desire to hire a staff person soon. Ms. MacNeille moved that the committee authorize the chair to begin the process of acquiring office space and equipment and recruiting staff as soon as possible. Representative Porter expressed concern about hiring a legislative employee because of the possibility of a conflict of interest. Several members expressed a desire that the chair bring back his recommendation of staff to the committee for approval. Ms. McCoy suggested the committee establish the criteria for screening applicants. Representative Mackie made an amendment to the motion to include the chair bringing back to the committee a recommendation of staff for approval by the committee. Senator Pearce asked that the position be noticed. The question was called. The amended motion was approved with unanimous consent. Representative Porter did not object but did state that he was concerned with the staff issue as it related to the RFPs. At 2:30 p.m. the main committee recessed for a Senate Subcommittee meeting. SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING CONVENED The Senate Subcommittee was called to order at 2:30 p.m. with all members present. Senator Pearce moved and asked unanimous consent that the subcommittee go into executive session for the purpose of discussion which might be prejudice to the persons involved. The motion was adopted with unanimous consent. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING RECONVENED The committee of the whole reconvened at 3:07 p.m. with a quorum present. 4 & 5. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES/PROCESSES AND JURISDICTIONS Mr. Granger suggested that the chair should exercise his judgement regarding administrative procedures that had not been covered by the committee to date. 6. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT ON RFPs FOR LEGAL SERVICES The committee agreed that the subcommittee's report on the RFP could be discussed in open meeting. Mr. Granger indicated that he felt the committee should discuss the following with the firms: what the cost of investigative/legal services will be; who will be assigned to work on the projects; caution about dealing with someone in the firm and then having someone else do the work; not be dazzled by the person the committee is dealing with; and that the firm have a specific person to contact regarding the services. Ms. McCoy reviewed the report submitted by the subcommittee. She indicated that she and Ms. MacNeille had interviewed the three applicants. The subcommittee felt that all the applicants were well qualified. Ms. MacNeille noted that when the RFP was issued most of the committee had not been selected and therefore a broad scope of responsibilities had been outlined in it. Now that the full committee was selected a different direction could be taken. The firms submitting the RFPs were willing to provide whatever services within whatever parameters the committee determined. Mr. Granger suggested that term contracts might be considered whereby several firms were retained for whatever projects came up but there was no guarantee of work. Representative Mackie suggested that the committee needed to decide on staff in order to determine what services the legal/investigative firms would provide. His recommendation was that whatever work could be done would be handled through LAA. Several members expressed a desire to have a legal firm available from the beginning of any complaint requiring an investigation. Ms. MacNeille moved that the committee go into executive session for the purpose of discussion of the RFPs and the reputations of character involved. There was no objection and the motion was adopted. The committee went into executive session at 3:30 p.m. and came out of executive session at 4:05 p.m. Mr. Donahue stated that today a fax had been received responding to the RFP from Routh, Crabtree and Harbour. Representative Porter moved that the committee not consider any RFPs that were received after the deadline. There was no objection and the motion was adopted. Representative Mackie moved that the chairman be authorized to negotiate and execute an agreement with Michael R. Spaan from Bogle and Gates to provide legal services to the Select Committee on Ethics. There was no objection and the motion was adopted. Representative Mackie noted that all three were well qualified, but because of geography, the subcommittee's recommendation and other issues, the above firm had been selected. Ms. MacNeille moved that in the event a conflict of interest prevents Bogle and Gates from providing any legal services to the committee that the chair be authorized to negotiate with and retain an attorney to handle the matter for which there is a conflict. There was no objection and the motion was adopted. The full committee recessed for the purpose of a House subcommittee meeting at 4:10 p.m. HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING Ms. McCoy moved and asked unanimous consent that the subcommittee go into executive session for the purpose of discussion which might be prejudice to the persons involved. The motion was adopted with unanimous consent. When the subcommittee came back from executive session, Representative Mackie moved that the House subcommittee adjourn and the full Ethics Committee be subject to resuming its action April 23, 1993 at 8:00 a.m. There was no objection and the motion was adopted. FULL COMMITTEE MEETING - APRIL 23, 1993, 8:00 A.M. 6. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT ON RFPs FOR LEGAL SERVICES continued The full committee reconvened the meeting at 8:00 a.m. Representative Mackie noted that the two senators had expressed concern at not being involved in the discussion regarding the RFPs. Ms. MacNeille moved that the committee go into executive session for the purpose of discussion of the RFPs and the reputations of character involved. There was no objection and the motion was adopted. The committee came out of executive session at 9:10 a.m. and recessed until 1:00 p.m. in the Governor's Conference Room. The meeting reconvened at 1:10 p.m. Mr. Donahue explained that signatory authorization and a dollar amount were needed on the contract resulting from the RFP. Ms. MacNeille moved that the committee authorize the chair to negotiate and sign the contract under Section 150 (b) of the Legislative Procurement Procedures not to exceed $40,000 with Bogle and Gates and designate the chair project director. Senator Kerttula moved to amend the motion so that the contract did not exceed $30,000. Several members expressed concern that the amount of the contract would lead to spending that amount of money. Representative Porter suggested that the chair in his negotiations with the legal firm selected make clear to them that there were specific criteria for services performed and that the committee had no intention of spending the total amount of the contract. Senator Kerttula withdrew his amendment. There was no objection. He then moved to amend the earlier motion to say that the contract would be for $20,000 with an additional $10,000 available if necessary. Representative Porter called for the previous question. There was no objection and the motion was adopted with unanimous consent. EXECUTIVE SESSION At 1:20 p.m. Representative Mackie moved and asked unanimous consent that the committee of the whole go into executive session for the purpose of discussion which might be prejudice to the persons involved. The motion was adopted with unanimous consent. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING The committee of the whole reconvened at 1:35 p.m. with a quorum present. STAFF ADVERTISEMENT Mr. Donahue announced that the LAA Personnel Office was preparing an advertisement for the staff position with applications to be sent to a mailbox in Anchorage. Any other applications would be added to that for review. Senator Pearce and Representative Mackie would review the applications for legislative conflicts and Ms. MacNeille and Mr. Donahue would review the applications for other criteria. NEXT MEETING Representative Mackie moved and asked unanimous consent that the committee tentatively schedule their next meeting June 8-9, 1993 in Anchorage at the Anchorage LIO on C Street. The full committee was recessed for a Senate subcommittee meeting. SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING The meeting was called to order at 1:40 p.m. The committee went into executive session. ADJOURNMENT The full committee reconvened at 3:32 p.m. Ms. McCoy moved and asked unanimous consent that the committee adjourn. There was no objection and the motion was adopted. The meeting was adjourned at 3:35 p.m.