Council Committee Continues Ethics Ordinance Review

By Gabe BullardThe debate over a new ethics ordinance for Metro Government continued in a Louisville Metro Council committee Wednesday.Two proposed updates to the government ethics code were introduced in the council last year. A workgroup appointed to reconcile the ordinances has completed its work, and the resulting single ordinance will be read into the full council Thursday.In their meeting Wednesday, the Government Accountability and Oversight Committee discussed possible changes to the ordinance. When the committee meets again in two weeks it will make those changes.One of the final areas of disagreement for the legislation will be the guidelines for conflicts of interest involving family members and domestic partners of government officials. Committee chair Tina Ward-Pugh says the group is close to reaching a compromise and she expects the committee to approve a revised ethics ordinance on March 10th. It would then go to the full council for a final vote on March 11th.