Councilmember Cathy Moore introduced legislation Thursday to modify Seattle’s ethics rules to allow Councilmembers to disclose conflicts of interest and still vote on legislation that presents the conflict, rather than recuse themselves from the vote, as is currently required.
Moore argues that when a Councilmember, especially a district Councilmember, must recuse themselves from a policy discussion and vote, the constituents that they were elected to represent are left without a voice in the political process. The Council has seven district seats and two citywide seats.
Under Moore’s proposed revision, a Councilmember with a conflict of interest, financial or otherwise, would have to follow current disclosure protocol, which includes announcing the
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