Salisbury City ethics commission finds no ethics violation

Salisbury's Ethics Commission announced Friday that it has found no wrongdoing on the part of a City Council member accused of violating the municipal code by voting for a budget that includes health insurance benefits for herself. The commission also exonerated another councilwoman who discussed health benefits for herself at a city budget work session.
Jonathan Taylor, a city resident and blogger, filed a complaint against Councilwoman Terry Cohen. The complaint also named Councilwoman Debbie Campbell, who Taylor said advocated health insurance benefits for herself during an April 28 budget work session. The second complaint filed by Taylor alleged that both Cohen and Campbell discussed the council health insurance at a May 19 budget work session. The third complaint alleged that Cohen voted for the budget ordinance at the May 26 City Council meeting, when the budget ordinance included funding for health insurance for herself.
Cohen denied any wrongdoing, saying she is entitled to vote on the budget and was not voting on the restoration of her health benefits. Funds for the benefits had been restored with an amendment to the budget.
The Ethics Commission held a hearing on the complaints on Wednesday and on Friday afternoon ruled that neither Campbell or Cohen violated the city's municipal code when they participated in a discussion about health insurance at either one of the city's budget work sessions.
"The Ethics Commission finds that the city has a long-standing policy of providing health insurance coverage to City Council members, and that discussion of health insurance coverage for council members at a budget work session is necessary to determine the correct amount of funding for that category in the budget ordinance," the Ethics Commission stated in its published decision.
The Ethics Commission also determined that Cohen did not violate the municipal code when she voted on the budget that includes health insurance coverage for her.
"The Ethics Commission finds that health insurance coverage for City Council members is permitted by Maryland Code and by the long standing benefits policy of the city, and that a vote on the funding of the health insurance coverage as a component of the budget ordinance is not a violation of the city ethics code," the Ethics Commission said.
The Ethics Commission further stated that a vote by a council member on the budget ordinance- which includes an expenditure for council member health insurance- is a necessary exemption under the municipal code, in order to permit passage of a budget ordinance by three or more favorable votes, as required by the city charter.
In addition to rendering its decision, the Ethics Commission issued an advisory opinion that recommended the mayor and City Council appoint a compensation review committee to study the benefits, including health insurance, that is offered the mayor and council.
"The review committee should recommend a future approach regarding these benefits to the mayor and council. The benefits, including health insurance, should be the subject of a written policy or a section in the city charter or code," the Ethics Commission said.