Doug Clark’s column on Friday was classic Doug – taking pot shots at the wrong target. But he was right when he ascribed a fox/henhouse analogy to the ethics committee proposal that the Spokane City Council will consider tonight. This kind of ordinance is meant to sound good but will do little to stop the abuses that can be inherent in government.

While it sounds good, this ordinance provides no accountability and should be held over for more scrutiny, debate and revision.

Since Wayne Barnett, director of Seattle’s Ethics Commission, made his presentation at City Hall last October, enthusiasm has run high for a process that could both educate and hold staff and public officials accountable. As it turns out, two groups took the initiative to develop a city of Spokane ethics ordinance.

Despite the many similarities in the general language, there are some important differences in the two approaches – differences that would determine whether we get an ethics commission with the clout to hold those with questionable ethics accountable or one that has watered down capabilities and members who are selected solely by those officials whose ethics could someday be subject to investigation by this body.

Under either version, the City Charter will likely need to be amended if the proposed ethics commission/committee is to have any authority other than simply making recommendations to the City Council.

The Neighborhood Alliance is seeking a City Council member to sponsor a new draft of the ethics code that would employ an independent ethics commission, appointed broadly from the community, and with the legal power to enforce the code against all city employees, elected officials and appointed members of city boards and commissions.

The logical first step now appears to be the proposal of a Charter Amendment that would establish such an ethics commission and its powers. The current strong mayor charter probably precludes that and should be amended.

The proposed amendment could also reflect Councilman Al French’s proposal to give the City Council the power to initiate a recall upon a super majority vote of the council. The next step – which could be taken concurrently – would be to update the Neighborhood Alliance’s grass-roots ethics code proposal to take into account both the city attorney’s concerns about collective bargaining issues and some of the best ideas from the code proposed by Councilman French.

The Alliance grass-roots proposal differs significantly from the proposal now on the council agenda. It would cover all city employees, utilizing a truly independent commission and enforcing actual accountability in the form of fines and cost bills.

The Neighborhood Alliance welcomes a public debate on whether the ethics code should be limited to education and aspirations or include strong accountability along with education, but the debate probably needs to take place with two proposed codes on the table.

We believe that the public is hungry for accountability after suffering through the mayoral recall process.

We also believe that it makes more sense to take the time to do this right, rather than rush a proposal to passage. Once the council chooses a basic approach, the drafting should not be difficult.

Those of us who like to dream big about the idea that old-fashioned words like honesty and integrity could once again be linked to the words “public servant” can easily envision a change to the City Charter that would include commission members selected equally by the mayor, City Council and such nonpartisan groups as the Community Assembly, Human Rights Commission, city employees’ union and Chase Youth Commission.

Call me idealistic, but I believe in a Spokane that could take the prudent steps necessary to put in place an ethics commission worthy of overseeing the political winds that blow in and out of City Hall.