Brookfield Ethics Board recommends confidentiality for advisory opinions, declines Seals request

The Brookfield Ethics Board on June 22 recommended that the Common Council amend the city’s Ethics Code to require confidentiality for all advisory opinions and eliminate the ability to waive that confidentiality, but the board voted not to issue an advisory opinion in response to a request from Kris Seals.

The recommendation to the Common Council came in a motion by board member Mark Nelson, seconded by Chair Monica Riederer; the motion was recorded as carried unanimously. The board’s minutes show the motion asked the Common Council to consider amending the Ethics Code to require confidentiality for advisory opinions and to remove the code’s existing waiver option.

The board then considered whether Kris Seals had standing under the Ethics Code. Member Mark Nelson moved, and Chair Monica Riederer seconded, a motion finding that Seals had standing; that motion passed 2-1, with Vice-Chair Christopher Steffe voting no.

After resolving standing, the board moved to the substantive request. Member Mark Nelson moved, seconded by Vice-Chair Christopher Steffe, to decline to issue an advisory opinion to Kris Seals. That motion carried unanimously, meaning the board did not prepare or release a written advisory opinion in response to Seals’s request.

City Attorney Jenna Merten served as the official recording officer during roll call and administrative proceedings. The minutes record the board’s actions but do not include the text of Seals’s request or the board’s deliberations beyond motions and votes.

Next steps: the board’s recommendation to amend the Ethics Code would require action by the Common Council; the minutes do not show any timeline or council response.