By: Diane Benjamin
The Bloomington City Code has a section on ethics for employees, it is patterned after the State Ethics Act: http://www.cityblm.org/government/codes-ordinances/city-code
Excerpt:
To find out what activities are prohibited, see the State Ethics law: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs5.asp?ActID=2529&ChapterID=2
This is the definition of Prohibited Political Activities from that link:
There is more, but that’s enough of the definition to explain it.
Now see what is actually prohibited for State employees, keep in mind Bloomington’s code says anything prohibited under State law is also prohibited for their employees:
Refer back to the first two stories: Part 1 Part 2
Did Nikita’s activities violate the State Ethics Law? That would be a YES!
Back to the City Code:
Penalties for violating the Ethics Act are spelled out in (5 ILCS 430/50-5)
Penalties range from steep fines to discharge.
Every municipality is required to have an Ethics Officer. David Hales was the previous Ethics Officer, the job must now fall to Tim Gleason.
Citizens can file ethics complaints directly to him. He has to hold a prompt hearing on the accusations.
Don’t forget, the browser history I obtained was only for FOUR days.
Why do I think lawyers for Nikita are pouring through 6 months or more of Kathy Michael’s history trying to find something on her?
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Here’s the MILLION dollar question.. Does TARI have ANY set hours? And IF he does, was he campaigning for Nikita during ANY of this time? Also, is his time at the mayors conference considered working, and IF so, did he do ANY campaigning there?
Enquiring MINDS want to know…
He is elected. So far the Appellate Court Prosecutor hasn’t filed any charges against him, so he’s not going anywhere. It’s up to the voters.