Unalaska, AK – Unalaska's public officials have new ethics guidelines following last night's City Council meeting.

The four council members present voted unanimously to approve two new ordinances drafted in response to questions that arose following this October's mayoral and city council elections.

Council member Dick Peck said that while the city's ordinances could require more tweaking in the future, he was pleased with the changes.

"I think we need to take a look, as we go down the road, at the electronic tools we have--e-mails, voicemails, things of this nature," he said. "But I think that overall, I would put our ethics policy at the top of the list of any of the cities in the state of Alaska."

One of the ordinances passed last night amends Unalaska's city code to gives city investigators the power to subpoena witnesses in the event of an elections investigation, while also giving the target of an election complaint the opportunity to respond.

There are also new limits on what city officials can and can't do in office. That includes more restrictions on receiving gifts and using city resources to support candidates in other elections, as well as the requirement that officials disclose conflicts of interest if their immediate family members stand to benefit from something the city government is considering doing. The new rules also prevent the city from hiring former elected officials for a year after they leave office.

The measures passed yesterday, which were drafted by City Attorney Brooks Chandler, amend regulations that are already on the books, rather than drawing up new ethics rules from scratch. Council member Katherine McGlashan said she's heard criticism that that approach doesn't go far enough, but doesn't agree with it.

"We're a small community," she said. "I think if we cover our bases, which we're doing, [then] we're doing a good job."

The present council members passed the new ordinances unanimously, despite some debate at their last meeting over the measures. Council members Roger Rowland and David Gregory were out of town and excused from last night's meeting.