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There has been discussion in recent months as to whether ethics issues with teachers and other school board employees should be enforced by the school board or the town government.
Mr. Lasser said that the ad-hoc committee didn't believe it "could make a decision of what the right read is of state laws. There seem to be valid points on both sides."
"It's not so critical that we reach a conclusion on what that definition is," he said. "The key element is that the townspeople have confidence that employees are acting in the best interest of the community.
"As long as those standards are appropriate and agreed to, I don't think the people care who's administering them," Mr. Lasser added.
Ethics has taken on a higher profile since First Selectman Robert Silvaggi began his term 22 months ago.
The selectmen applauded the first report that the ad-hoc committee presented a year ago this summer and approved those recommendations in August of last year.
A chief component was a financial disclosure form in which municipal officials had to indicate any possible conflicts of interest.
Some elected officials have said that although the addition of the disclosure form was an appropriate step, they have seen little, if any, ethics violations during their service in the municipal government.
The selectmen will hold a public hearing on the ad-hoc committee's report Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. in the town hall.
The ad-hoc committee reconvened this spring after the Board of Selectmen voted to dismiss the recommendations of the Board of Ethics on two cases, which, according to Danbury attorney Thomas Beecher, the town co-counsel, boiled "down to what jurisdiction the Board of Ethics has."
In its report, the ad-hoc committee indicated that it tried to address concerns by the Police Department regarding possible use of force in criminal cases by revising the ethics ordinance to state that it would be a violation to "Engage in any intentional act of physical harm in the execution of his responsibilities as an officer/employee, excepting any act that is consistent with established guidelines for the use of force by individuals trained to do so in the line of duty."
"We believe this would exempt from violation of the ordinance any police officer's actions that are consistent with department guidelines executed in the line of duty," Mr. Lasser stated in the report he distributed to the selectmen.
On union issues, Mr. Lasser stated that a paragraph was added at the suggestion of Mr. Beecher, who is a former chairman of the New Milford Ethics Commission, regarding the town's personnel policies as well as addressing how it may relate to other grievance procedures.
In recent months, Mr. Silvaggi had expressed concern about a small number of municipal officials who had still not sent their financial disclosure forms. He announced last week that all of them had been submitted after his office had made several follow-up communications.
Mr. Lasser encouraged the selectmen to ask prospective appointees whether they would be willing to complete the disclosure form before taking office and indicated that the political organizations in town should take the same step before nominating candidates for elected office.
"State law doesn't give us a lot of recourse," Mr. Lasser said regarding actions that can be taken against officials that don't sign the financial disclosure form.
Mr. Silvaggi said he hopes that the recommendations that the selectmen act on will include a provision in which elected and appointed officials would have to submit the financial disclosure form before they take office.
The first selectman, who is not seeking a second term in the Nov. 3 municipal election, said in an interview that the town "has come a long way" on its ethics ordinances since he took office.
"It's very important to me," Mr. Silvaggi said of the issue, which received considerable discussion during his early months in office.
