Casper City Council Agrees to Ordinance Amendments

Casper City Council has informally agreed to add amendments to proposed ordinances regarding the city's code of ethics and the removal of elected officials.

With a two-thirds vote after a hearing, council may choose to either censure or remove a council member found guilty of ethics violations – council agreed to add that amendment during its work session on Tuesday.

It joins an amendment that penalizes sexual harassment, workplace violence and the creation of a hostile work environment, and another amendment requiring a 6-3 super-majority vote to initiate the hearing process itself.

Casper mayor Paul Meyer says the amendments strengthen the proposed ordinances.

“What I’ve seen here is a very extreme timidness toward adding any more teeth than is absolutely necessary, and adding all the checks and balances that we can to make it pretty substantial,” Meyer said.

Meanwhile, a request by Ward I councilman Daniel Sandoval to require eight votes for removal from council was shot down during the meeting.

Council is scheduled to formally read and vote on the ordinances next Tuesday. The ordinances must pass two more readings before adoption.