Two months after a proposed code of conduct was brought before the Vineyard City Council, a final draft was unanimously adopted by the council Wednesday night.

The document lays out legal and ethical standards, personal conduct guidelines and consequences of violations. It applies to members of Vineyard’s City Council, boards, committees and commissions.

The code of conduct was adopted as a resolution, not an ordinance, in order to give the council more flexibility in learning how to operate with it, according to Councilman Brett Clawson.

The code was first introduced in a special session Jan. 14, with Mayor Julie Fullmer calling it “something that we should be able to take on and assure our residents that we are professional, transparent and ethical.”

However, the council did not bring it to a vote because some members felt they did not have sufficient time to digest it and were concerned about the subjective nature of certain rules.

Councilman Jacob Holdaway called it “not good government practice” during the January meeting.

Fullmer nominated a subcommittee of Holdaway and Clawson to take a closer look at the document and report to the council their suggested revisions. Holdaway and Clawson worked alongside city staff and citizens to finalize the code.

The item reappeared in the agenda on Jan. 29 and Feb. 12, but a continuance was issued each time. The final version was trimmed from its original nine pages to six pages and has several modifications from its original draft.

“This document is 1,000 times better from where we started, and I would like to congratulate or even thank Brett,” Holdaway said in Wednesday’s meeting.

The adopted code of conduct omits several specific violations that were detailed in the original document presented to the council by City Attorney Jayme Blakesley in January.

Some specific violations removed from the code include:

• Inappropriate tone or dismissive comments during discussions.
• Mild breaches of etiquette, such as public disagreements with the chair’s decisions or failing to follow procedural rules.
• Spreading malicious falsehoods or engaging in divisive behavior that undermines collaboration.
• Using platforms to incite hostility, attack individuals or misrepresent council actions maliciously.
• Posting content that violates ethical guidelines or compromises city interests.
• In the adopted version, the conduct violations section refers to meeting protocols, which lays out personal conduct rules.

Use of derogatory language, criticism of physical appearance and repeatedly interrupting other speakers were listed as prohibited items, as were direct threats and gestures of violence as well as intimidation and threats to release private information.

The document also stipulates a council member has “the right to speak their mind about their individual position at any time and any place so long as they are not speaking or implying to speak for the entire body.”

The code of conduct was initially proposed a month after The New York Times and Salt Lake Tribune published a story in which sources questioned Fullmer’s transparency and accused her of prioritizing developers over the town’s citizens, among other allegations.

Holdaway was a key source in the story and is an outspoken adversary of the mayor who has accused her of deception and has accused the city of lacking transparency and fiscal responsibility.

In a response to the story, Fullmer accused Holdaway of being “notorious for bullying and spreading falsehoods about me, the city of Vineyard, and anyone he views as political or professional rivals.”