HOLMES BEACH – In trying to ease rifts among Holmes Beach commissioners, new commission Chair Carol Soustek inadvertently gave them something to argue about.
Soustek presented her fellow commissioners with a proposed Code of Core Values for Civility and Ethics created by altering a document adopted by the city of Dunedin.
The code sets out expectations and rules of conduct for commissioners, noting that other cities have similar guidelines for commissioners.
“You’re held to a very high standard when you’re elected and everything you do is a reflection upon your city. It’s not like when you leave this dais you can go rob a bank. It wouldn’t be very good for the city,” she said, adding that she feels the proposed guidelines eliminate any gray areas in how commissioners conduct themselves.
The values outlined in the document include integrity, ethics, communication, teamwork, leadership, quality of work and recognition of each other’s individual contributions to the Holmes Beach community. Commissioners didn’t express any issues with those items.
The one that caused a disagreement was the stewardship addition made by Soustek, which stated: “I shall strive to make a positive role model as a city commissioner. Proper attire should always be appropriate to the situation. While in the commission chambers, clothing with slogans or words, political or otherwise, shall not be worn. No food is allowed in the chambers. The smell, noise or transfer to documents when eating food can be disruptive. Drinks will be allowed by the city commission and staff but when not in use, the container needs to be capped securely and not placed on the dais.”
While Commissioners Pat Morton and Terry Schaefer agreed with the stewardship provision, Commissioners Jayne Christenson and Kim Rash did not.
Rash said that he felt the dress code section of the stewardship provision was targeted at him for the custom-made T-shirts he has worn in recent months when attending city meetings. The shirts previously were brought under fire by Mayor Judy Titsworth, who said that she felt that statements like “I represent the residents” were misleading because she said all elected officials represent the residents, not just Rash. Rash, who has a T-shirt with that statement, ran both his election and re-election campaigns with a similar slogan.
During the Dec. 14 meeting, he argued that forbidding him to wear the shirts to a commission meeting was a violation of his constitutional First Amendment right to free speech. Rash pressed for city leaders to obtain a ruling from Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on whether or not instituting the dress code would be a violation of his or any other commissioner’s civil rights.
“In my research, dress codes cannot discriminate on the basis of controversial messages on clothing. I do not feel that my T-shirts have been controversial in nature, but the chair and the mayor obviously believe otherwise,” Rash stated. “There is nothing destructive or vulgar about statements about the city officials supporting residents who elect them to serve in office, in my opinion.”
City Attorney Patricia Petruff said that she was unprepared to have a discussion about the legality of a dress code, however, she said that dress codes were consistently implemented in the school system for both students and staff without, to her knowledge, infringing on civil liberties. She encouraged commissioners to table the discussion until more information could be gathered and presented by either herself or incoming city attorney Erica Augello.
Christenson said that while she’d be willing to discuss a dress code for commissioners, she didn’t feel that its placement in a code of ethics was warranted, stating that she doesn’t believe it’s an ethics issue. She urged her fellow commissioners to consider removing the provision and discussing it as a separate item.
“I felt that this was a nice document,” she said, adding that she would like to see provisions for civility, respect for the individual, creativity and innovation, efficiency, adaptability and organizational sensitivity added.
“When we get into attire and what we can eat and drink in the room, I think it’s a little overreaching,” Christenson said. While she said she’s open to the discussion, she felt it’s more of a policy decision versus an ethics issue. She suggested discussing the two items as a separate building policy.
While commissioners did not vote to remove the stewardship provision, a majority did seem agreeable to adopting the Code of Core Values for Civility and Ethics with the inclusion of the provisions suggested by Christenson. They agreed with Petruff’s suggestion and voted unanimously to table the discussion to be brought up at a future meeting.
“I think it’s a very good step forward,” Schaefer said of the proposed code of core values, noting that he felt Soustek hit on some very good points in the proposed document that he would like to see instituted.
Morton said that he feels the adoption of the document was long overdue and that he would like it extended beyond elected officials to include city staff as well. Mayor Judy Titsworth noted that a similar code is included in the Holmes Beach employee handbook.
Soustek said that the matter was brought directly to a regular meeting instead of first being debated at a work session because she’d like to start the new year with an understanding of what is expected of city commissioners going forward.
“We’re five individuals as a group. Decisions are a group decision and I have seen some of this being splintered and I’m tired of it,” Soustek said, adding that for the commission to make great progress in the future to move forward she feels that the group needs to work more toward unification.
“We are responsible for being very good at what we do. I don’t want people to start laughing at my commission. I want them to start respecting this commission and thinking they do an excellent job,” she said.
Soustek said that the purpose of the code was to address issues that she’s noticed and have been brought to her attention by the public.
“I want us to move into a new year with clear understanding and no question of what this commission is responsible for,” Soustek finished.
Titsworth added that she hopes adopting the proposed code or one similar will help city commissioners to be more like “statesmen” when representing the city of Holmes Beach.
