The Bowling Green City Commission on Tuesday approved changes to the city’s code of ordinances regarding penalties for ethics violations but left out a provision that would assess legal fees on a city employee found to have violated the city code of ethics.

The changes come about a year after a high-profile ethics investigation of Commissioner Brian “Slim” Nash. In May 2019, Nash was arrested on public intoxication charges after he attended a concert at the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center. He later pleaded guilty and paid a $25 fine, plus court costs.

The city ethics board hired an attorney to lead an ethics probe of Nash.

In October, the city ethics board ruled Nash violated the city’s code of ethics. A settlement agreement between Nash and the ethics board called for a four-week leave of absence from his official duties, for Nash to donate his salary (roughly $1,200) from that time to a local substance abuse recovery center and for Nash to undergo counseling.

An open records act filing from the Daily News revealed the city’s bill for the ethics probe was $20,062.30. In November, commissioners expressed a desire to investigate ways to not incur such costs in the future, and ethics board Chairman Barry Pruitt said the board would make some proposals.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Pruitt said the effort to come up with proposed changes was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the changes aim to “honor fairness and promote trust” in city government.

While there were many smaller changes to the ethics ordinance, the primary one was adding a provision that a city employee found to have violated the code of ethics could be required by the ethics board to “pay a portion or all the legal costs incurred … which may be recovered by the City in a civil action in the nature of debt if the offender fails to pay the penalty within a prescribed period of time.”

Commissioner Joe Denning questioned the fairness of assessing legal fees on a lower-wage, entry-level employee.

City Manager Jeff Meisel said most issues with employee misconduct are handled internally and wouldn’t go to the ethics board.

Pruitt said “it’s all about accountability,” adding that the solution to avoid the legal fees is to not violate the code of ethics.

Commissioner Dana Beasley-Brown said she was concerned about anonymous, politically motivated complaints leading to thousands of dollars in legal fees.

A provision of a possible $1,000 fine for ethics code violators remained in the proposed revised ordinance. Beasley Brown said she therefore supported keeping the $1,000 cap without adding legal fees.

Commissioner Sue Parrigin questioned whether the city would ever accept an anonymous complaint. Bowling Green Mayor Bruce Wilkerson clarified that the city does accept anonymous complaints.

It was further clarified that legal fees could only be assessed if a person was found to have violated the ethics code.

Denning made a motion to delete the revised ethics ordinance language regarding attorney fees and the $1,000 fine and to have the ethics board work with city commissioners on a new proposal. Beasley Brown seconded the motion, which was approved after it was also voted for by Nash. Parrigin and Wilkerson voted no.

A second and binding reading of the changes is slated for the next commission meeting Oct. 2.

Meanwhile, the city is not changing its property tax rate.

During Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners voted on a second and final reading to keep property taxes at the current rate of $0.205 per $100 of assessed value.

Because of growth in the city, Bowling Green still stands to see an increase in property tax revenue even without a rate hike. The 2021 fiscal year property tax revenue projection is $10.9 million, up from 2020’s $10.5 million.

– Follow Managing Editor Wes Swietek on Twitter @WesSwietek or visit bgdaily news.com.