The City of Long Beach launched a new hotline this week where residents and employees can ask questions or report incidents related to City staff committing ethics violations, according to a presentation by the Ethics Commission.
Ethics Officer Heather Van Wijk explained that the Ethics Hotline will use the same number as the City’s Fraud Hotline, 1-888-372-8307, but now when people call they’ll be able to choose between the two options.
Van Wijk said the hotline can be accessed 24/7, and that callers can choose to leave their information or speak anonymously.
After a suspected violation is reported, city staff will investigate and decide whether the violation occurred or not, and how to respond. Suspected violations that can be reported to the Ethics Hotline include conflicts of interest, violations of the Brown Act, discrimination and retaliation.
Besides reporting offenses that may have already occurred, City staff can also use the hotline to gain guidance on ethics questions that arise in their career, such as whether they can accept gifts or whether they may have an inadvertent conflict of interest.
“We don’t want this to be a gotcha-type program,” Van Wijk said. “We really want to encourage all of us to feel comfortable enough just to ask questions when you’re not sure about something.”
