EXTRA CONTENT: City of Corbin revives dormant Ethics Board

Read the city of Corbin’s Ethics Ordinance by clicking here.

Dormant for over six years, the city of Corbin voted Monday to revive its Board of Ethics, a move that one of the City Commission’s newest members said is long overdue.

During the regular monthly meeting of the Corbin City Commission, commissioner’s unanimously agreed to reactive the Board of Ethics and appointed three new members to the panel: Corbin Presbyterian Church Pastor Rev. John Manon, Grace on the Hill United Methodist Church Minister Rev. Tim Thompson and Dianne Skinner.

Corbin Mayor Willard McBurney said state law requires the city have an active Board of Ethics, but said its existence has been pointless in the past.

"It’s one of those things that kind of slipped through the cracks and I am glad it was brought up by one of our new commissioners," McBurney said following Monday’s meeting. "Ethics in city government is important. People should do the right thing and we want citizens to trust we are acting in their best interests. This is an important board with important duties and I am pleased it is active again."

Newly elected City Commissioner Joe "Butch" White said he pushed to have the Board of Ethics resurrected when he learned the city was out of compliance with state regulations during a recent training seminar he attended before taking office. He said the board is important and probably should have been used for different situations in the past.

"That’s one of the things they specified at the Kentucky League of Cities training is that we had to have the board," White said. "After all these issues with the stock market and business and government leaders over the last 10 years and their failure to apply ethics to start with, I felt we should have it. We need a good foundation of ethics for people to go by."

The city passed an ethics ordinance in 1994, but city leaders cannot recall it ever being used to punish a city employee or elected official. The ordinance is comprehensive and covers numerous areas including hiring, potential business and financial conflicts, use of city property, contracts, gifts intended to influence decisions, misuse of confidential information among other things.

According to the ordinance that created it, the Board of Ethics has the right to investigate unethical conduct on its own, but is compelled to hold hearings and conduct inquiries over written complaints of misconduct submitted to its members. It can recommend disciplinary action to the Board of Commissioners including public reprimands, issues cease and desist orders and even dismissal or removal from office. The Board can also levy civil fines of up to $1,000 against violators and refer evidence of criminal violations to the County Attorney or Commonwealth’s Attorney.

"I think when I brought it up, everyone knew we had to do it," White said. "We are not the only town in Kentucky that has gotten lax in that area, but it was something we needed to fix."

The newly reformed Board of Ethics will have to meet in the near future in order to select officers.

In other business, the Commission:

¥ Appointed Commission Joe Shelton as Mayor Pro Tem.

¥ Appointed Tom Blair to the Corbin Library Board.

¥ Appointed Commissioners Shelton and Ed Tye to the Personnel Board.

¥ Appointed Commissioners White and Phil Gregory to the Budget Committee.

¥ Issued tax refunds to Jerry Givens, Brenda Kennedy and Craig McDaniel.

¥ Accepted the resignation of John Hill from the Corbin Police Department. In his letter of resignation, Hill said he was taking a job with the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department because of a substantial pay increase.

¥ Authorized City Manager Bill Ed Cannon to advertise to hire up to three police officers. Cannon said the city was expecting three vacancies.

¥ Declared an emergency services light bar and prisoner screen as surplus property. The items will be given to Second District Constable Ron Bowling for his use.

¥ Declared an old bailer from the Corbin Recycling Center as surplus. The bailer will be traded in for a $500 allowance on the cost of $7,028 for freight for a new bailer.

¥ Authorized the Mayor to sign all documents necessary to file for grants to pay for the construction of a bike and walking trail that will run along Bacon Creek, and to buy new rubber mulch for the Larry Stevens Memorial Playground.

¥ Heard concerns from resident Gary Fox about the cost of garbage service and the need to expand the Corbin Recycling Program.

Fox said he would like to see more types of plastic taken at the current recycling center, and even advocated a curbside recycling program.

McBurney said the city has considered a pilot curbside recycling effort in certain neighborhoods, like Oaklawn, to see if the idea is feasible. City Manager Bill Ed Cannon said he’s been investigating the idea of moving the current Recycling Center to another location so it could become more of a regional facility. He said also, with more space, a new center could be more profitable.

¥ McBurney recognized the efforts of the Corbin Ossoli Club in regards to the Nativity scene outside of City Hall. He said the club donated the scene and that city leaders received much praise for it.

¥ Approved a one-year agreement with the Corbin Independent School System to manage the Corbin Center of Technology and Community Activities.