Ordinance amendment would make city indemnification policies more uniform
City Council will decide in two weeks whether or not to support amending Ordinance 83-10, which would allow for the defense and indemnification of non-criminal legal and ethic claims brought against any current or former member of the council for actions taken in the performance of his or her public duties.
Sponsored by Councilmember Bill Deile, the ordinance would bring City Council in line with the indemnification the rest of the city employees, volunteers or appointees receive, Deile said.
He said he got the idea while negotiating contracts for Carl Schwing and Gary King.
Deile also said he didn’t want to spend too much time discussing the amended ordinance because it was just going to come back again in two weeks.
He said he would go into more detail when the amended ordinance comes before a public hearing.
“What we say tonight will be forgotten and we’ll have to repeat it all in a future time,” Deile said.
City Council currently receives a certain level of indemnification through state statutes, City Attorney Dolores Menedez said.