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One of the areas of concern that was discussed with the Commissioner was how to treat invitations to open house type receptions given by persons or firms who do business with the County. Receptions of this nature typically occur during the holiday season or on the anniversary of a firm or grand opening. Under the current ethics code, attendance is not prohibited but the cost of the food or drink consumed is regulated to $6.00 for luncheons and $12.00 for dinners. This causes several concerns 1) how do you ascertain the cost of food and drink, 2) which figure do you apply to an early evening reception is it lunch or dinner and 3) in a City of this size many relationships are built on years of friendship and the invitation may be based on that friendship rather than the person's official position. A solution to this problem could be to allow attendance at group functions of this nature without regard to the cost of food and drink consumed by the attendee. The only requirement would be that the attendee file a statement with the Clerk within 5 days after attending a reception as follows: On December 15, 1996 1 attended a reception given by XYZ firm commemorating their 10th Anniversary. Signature Date This disclosure statement would make public the person's attendance and should remove any question of appearance that may be generated by attendance. The County Code of Ethics embodied in Section 104.06 Indian River County Code has for its purpose establishing a level of conduct over and above that required by the Florida Legislature in Chapter 112, Florida Statutes. It, like most laws, cannot explicitly cover every situation that may arise which could give rise to an ethics question. Therefore, an appeal procedure could be established whereby the opinion of the County Attorney may be reviewed to determine if a County employee's or County Commissioner's participation in a particular activity is allowed by of the code. This review process would function along the following lines. 1. Any County employee, Commissioner or member of a County Board or Commission may request an interpretive ruling on a particular set of facts from the County Attorney's Office as to whether participation in a described activity would violate the code of ethics. Said request would be in writing. 2. If the opinion is that there is no violation that ends the matter. 3. If the opinion Is that there is a violation that opinion may be appealed as follows: a. In the case of a county employee under the jurisdiction of the County Administrator, said employee may appeal to the County Administrator. The County Administrator could overrule, sustain or refer the matter to the Chairman. This same procedure could apply to employees of the executive aide to the Commission and the County Attorney who would hear the appeal of employees under their jurisdiction. b. In the case of a member of a County Board or Commission, said member could appeal to the Chairman. C. In the case of a Commissioner, the appeal would be to the Board County of Commissioners. d. When an appeal is to the Chairman, the Chairman may overrule, sustain or refer the opinion to the Commission for its decision. Commissioner Adams advised that she had duplicated and circulated copies of her memorandum of December 9, 1996 and Assistant County Attorney Terry O'Brien's memorandum of November 14, 1996 and a copy of the new State Statute (Chapter 96-328, Senate Bill No. 2206) on ethics in government. She believed the 64 BOOK JU PAGE 340 January 21, 1997