Mission Statement

The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities Ethics Program promotes public trust through a politically independent, unaffiliated, and nonpartisan Ethics Commission and Ethics Administrator. The Ethics Program provides training, investigations, advising, and community outreach to the elected officials, officials, employees, and citizens of the BPU and its service area.

Program Structure

The Ethics Program consists of four main components: (1) an Ethics Policy for all elected officials, officials, and employees of the BPU; (2) a five-member Ethics Commission; (3) an Office of the Ethics Administrator; and (4) an ethics training regimen and an investigatory process that promotes both compliance with the Ethics Policy and a redress for complaints and violations. The Ethics Commission is responsible for implementing the Ethics Policy, advising the BPU Board of Directors and staff on ethical issues, and ensuring compliance with Ethics Policy provisions through regular review of operational activities. The Ethics Commission meets once a month in open session. The Ethics Administrator serves as executive agent for the Ethics Commission and is responsible for all training, complaint investigations, general inquiries, and day-to-day operations of the Program. All elected officials, officials and employees of the BPU are required to attend a basic ethics education training session within 90 days of their affiliation, and to further attend a continuing ethics education training session every three years thereafter.

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2009 ANNUAL REPORT
Ethics Program
Kansas City Board of Public Utilities

This report has been prepared and submitted as a means of providing information on the status and various functions of the Ethics Program at the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities (hereinafter “BPU”) for the calendar year of 2009.

OVERVIEW
Rules for ethical conduct of elected officials, officials, and employees at the BPU are contained in the Ethics Policy. Responsibility for interpreting and enforcing the Ethics Policy is vested in a five-person Ethics Commission. The day-to-day operations of the Ethics Program are assigned to an Ethics Administrator, and this Ethics Administrator serves as the executive agent of the Ethics Commission in the performance of its responsibilities. Every elected official, official, and employee of the BPU receives training in the rules of ethical conduct contained within the Ethics Policy within 90 days of their affiliation with the BPU, and thereafter, each elected official, official, and employee received continuing ethics education training every three years. The Ethics Administrator maintains a telephonic hotline and an electronic mail address for the receipt of complaints of ethical violations, and the Ethics Administrator is responsible for supervising the investigation of such complaints and the implementation of any disciplinary or corrective action that may be warranted once the complaints have been investigated and a final determination made. Reports of complaints, the results of investigations, and any disciplinary or corrective actions taken are made to the General Manager and the Ethics Commission as soon as same are available. The Ethics Commission and the Ethics Administrator are responsible for making this Annual Report as a summary of the status of the Ethics Program and its various functions within the BPU.

ETHICS POLICY
The Ethics Policy was made effective January 1, 2004, and it exists presently as amended in specific provisions over the years. The Ethics Policy shall be interpreted and applied in such a manner as to not conflict with the adopted personnel policies and collective bargaining agreements approved and in force at the BPU, and in case of conflict, the specific language of the personnel policy or collective bargaining agreement in question shall control the issue.

ETHICS COMMISSION
Pursuant to the Ethics Policy, the BPU Board of Directors established a committee to select the BPU Ethics Commission Appointment Panel, and the Panel selected five persons to serve as BPU Ethics Commissioners: Dr. Patricia Caruthers, Mr. William Hutton, Mr. William Maher, Ms. Cynthia Smith, and Mr. Carlton Young. Also pursuant to the Ethics Policy, the Appointment Panel selected Mr. William Hutton to serve as Chair of the BPU Ethics Commission. After years of being dormant and not meeting regularly, the BPU Ethics Commission was fully reconstituted in 2009, and it resumed its regular meetings on July 10, 2009. Although the Ethics Policy requires the Ethics Commission to meet no less than semi-annually, until its important work is fully resumed, until its position as a viable entity within the BPU is reestablished, and until ratepayers and BPU employees are again confident that the BPU Ethics Commission has returned, the Ethics Commission has decided to meet on a monthly basis. Accordingly, the Ethics Commission has met in open session on the following dates: July 10, 2009, August 5, 2009, September 16, 2009, October 21, 2009, November 18, 2009, and December 16, 2009. The Ethics Commission generally meets on the third Wednesday of each month in rooms at the West Wyandotte Public Library, 1737 North 82nd Street, Kansas City, Kansas. Notice of these meetings, together with copies of the respective meeting agendas, are published each month in compliance with the Kansas Open Meetings Act.

ETHICS ADMINISTRATOR
In an Agreement signed on February 23, 2009, Michael W. Manske has returned to the BPU to again serve as its Ethics Administrator. Pursuant to this Agreement, Mr. Manske performs his duties as Ethics Administrator for compensation of a lump sum payment of $1000.00 per month, plus mileage incurred in the performance of his duties. Although not required to submit invoices of billable hours for payment (pursuant to amendment of the Ethics Policy to allow for lump sum payments as aforementioned), Mr. Manske continues to record his time as a means of reporting his monthly activities. Mr. Manske is considered an independent contractor of BPU and not an employee, and he maintains his principle office in Westwood, Kansas.

ETHICS TRAINING
Ethics training at the BPU is accomplished in one of two formats. First, every elected official, official, and employee receives a Basic Ethics Education training course within the first 90 days of their affiliation with the BPU. Whenever practical and appropriate these courses are presented as a part of new employee orientation, and at the last orientation conducted on September 15-16, 2009, 14 new employees were trained. Second, within three years of receiving their Basic Ethics Education training, elected officials, officials, and employees receive Continuing Ethics Education training. The purpose of this continuing education is more than mere refresher training, but rather a means of presenting and discussing current trends of topical interest in ethics within the organization. Because the BPU Ethics Program had become dormant for several years, a concerted effort was made to ensure currency of training, and with the training session conducted on April 24, 2009, all existing employees had received the Basic Ethics Education training course. With training scheduled for February 3, 2010 the BPU Board of Directors will become current on all of its required training as well.

ETHICS COMPLAINTS
Ethics Complaints may be received by complaining witnesses by calling the telephonic hotline number (913-544-1487), by posting an electronic mail message (mmanske@kc.rr.com), or by regular mail delivery to BPU Headquarters, 540 Minnesota Ave, Kansas City, KS 66101. A complaint may either identify the complaining witness or may be received from anonymous sources. Because of the requirement of confidentiality of the names of complaining witnesses, names have been redacted from this report, but the following topical complaints were received during the year, with the following summaries of investigations and disciplinary/corrective action taken:
• Inquiry concerning the use of BPU computers for personal email; advisory opinion issued.
• Residency complaint received; upon investigation finding, administrative action taken against offending employee.
• Complaint on customer billing issue; referred to and resolved by Customer Service.
• Complaint on unfair promotion and hiring practices alleging favoritism; referred to and resolved by Human Resources.
• Complaint on customer billing issue; referred to and resolved by Customer Service.
• Residency complaint received; upon investigation finding, administrative action taken against offending employee and an all-BPU-memo issued to all employees regarding residency requirements and compliance with personnel policies.
• Complaint by former employee alleging wrongful discharge and retaliatory action in response to alleged breeches of confidentiality by BPU officials; referred to and resolved by Human Resources.
• Complaint on alleged improper personal use of BPU vehicles (parked at private residence during a normal work day); referred to and resolved by Human Resources.
• Complaint alleging employee does not possess the required educational credentials of position, and has benefited from favoritism from senior management; investigation pending.
• Residency complaint received; investigation pending.

Respectfully submitted this _____ day of January, 2010.




______________________________ ______________________________
William W. Hutton                                     Michael W. Manske
Chair, Ethics Commission                        Ethics Administrator