The new Loudoun County Board of Supervisors will open its 2008 agenda Thursday with a slate of ethics proposals designed to upgrade the reputation of the beleaguered county board.
Accusations of improper, but not illegal, activity ran rampant over the last few years as influential supervisors faced questions about land purchases that benefited friends and contributors and advocated for developments that would benefit their employers and financial backers.
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“Reports of FBI investigations into the activities of various county officials shook public confidence in their local government,” longtime Supervisor Jim Burton, I-Blue Ridge, said in a memo supporting the ethics plan.
The initiatives include restrictions on last-minute adjustments to development applications and new financial disclosure requirements for members of all citizen advisory committees and many county staffers. The plan also proposes some restrictions on former county officials and employees and better disclosure of board meeting information and archives.
Supervisors also are seeking more authority to bolster the county’s ethics policies through state legislative action. The plan calls for the General Assembly to consider measures allowing local governments to limit the period in which developers can provide campaign contributions before a vote and would require a public record of all meetings between applicants and county officials.
The current legislative package does not address those issues, but could be amended to include the proposals.
