County Commissioners Introduce Ethics and Financial Disclosure Resolutions
(Crystal A. Proxmire, May 5, 2025)
Oakland County, MI – A pair of resolutions introduced to the Oakland County Board of Commissioner’s Legislative Affairs and Government Operations Committee would provide mechanisms for ethics complaints of county employees and financial disclosure requirements for county elected officials, if approved.
Democratic County Commissioner Charlie Cavell, who represents Berkley, Ferndale, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge, and portions of Birmingham and Royal Oak the 19th District, introduced the ethics resolution which would create a pool of applicants from the public who would be selected at random to review an ethics complaint. The panel of those selected would make a non-binding recommendation that the appropriate authority would take into consideration. For example if an employee of a department was accused of a violation, the department head would make the ultimate decision of what the repercussion would be. If a department head is accused, it could be the HR department or the county’s executive team making the final decisions.
Cavell, who is the Majority Vice Chair of the Board, explained his motivation to Oakland County Times, stating “Seeing the zanieness of DC, the heartbreaking story of corruption at the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, and hearing about the FBI investigations of Pontiac, it felt timely to update our ethics policy for the first time in 35 years to make sure our residents can be sure their government is trustworthy and accountable.
“This policy is based on best practices from around the country and is modeled on work done by Dave Coulter and Dave Woodward when they were commissioners in the minority. Knowing that, this should be a fairly simple and quick process to finally pass the first update to Oakland County’s Ethics Policy in over 3 decades.”
Kristen Nelson, also a Democrat, represents Keego Harbor, Sylvan Lake, and portions of Waterford, West Bloomfield, and Pontiac in District 10. She introduced the resolution that would require elected officials and appointees to County Boards and Committees to disclose: sources of earned and unearned income, assets and liabilities exceeding statutory thresholds, positions held in businesses, nonprofits and other organizations, spouse/household financial interests relevant to potential conflicts, and gifts, travel, or reimbursements from any entity doing business with the County.
The resolution mirrors legislation passed at the state level last year.
“This provides the same kind of transparency that Public Act 267 adds for elected officials in Lansing,” Nelson said. “We want to make sure that people in power are working for the people and not for their own interests. It puts structure into local government. Good policy needs to be codified, not just assumed.”
“We live in complicated and divisive times, and these resolutions help make our responsibilities and expectation clear.”
Both resolutions have been sent to the Legislative Affairs and Government Operations Committee . The next step in the process is for those on the committee to consider the resolutions and move them to the full board for a vote if they decide to so.
Learn more about the Oakland County Board of Commissioners at https://www.oakgov.com/government/board-of-commissioners
