The Ethics Committee welcomed a new member and elected officers recently. Former Salem Fire Chief Kevin Breen brings expertise in ethics and labor relations to the post as well as insight gained as a member of the Charter Commission. Donna Sytek was reelected chairman, with Marybeth Stramaglia as the new vice chair. They are joined by Donna Loranger and Tony Conte to complete the lineup.

The Ethics Committee already accomplished two of the goals set out for this year.

First, Marybeth Stramaglia offered Ethics training to newly elected and appointed officials. Combined with last year’s totals, over 100 attendees were familiarized with their responsibilities under Article 6 of the Town Charter.

Second, the previous version of the Ethics chapter of Salem’s Municipal Code applied only to members of town boards, commissions, and committees (not elected officials) and contained some provisions that conflicted with or were absent from the Ethics section of the Charter. In collaboration with the Council’s representative, the Committee crafted amendments to the Charter to reconcile the two sets of ethics regulations. The voters adopted these amendments in March, so the Committee recommended, and the Council voted on July 7, to repeal Chapter 33 of the Municipal Code and replace it with reference to Article 6 of the charter thereby establishing a consistent code of conduct.

Current activities include working on revised language prohibiting an elected or appointed official from the inappropriate use of influence to help or hurt someone. Coming soon to the Ethics Committee website page will be some FAQs to better inform the public about the scope of the Committee’s jurisdiction and the process for handling complaints.