Taking to heart repeated requests to form the city’s ethics board, the Langley City Council this week made a couple of amendments to rules governing the organization of the board and called for the citizen group to officially form.

Four members were already vetted and approved, but the initial bylaws required five members plus one alternate and a majority of the board to reside within Langley city limits.

Sharon Emerson urged the council during public comment to make any necessary amendments to form its ethics board.

Her plea was seconded by Hal Seligson, a former city councilman. One of the champions of forming an ethics board, Seligson warned the council that they may be approaching a deadline for the board’s efficacy to be reviewed, and if there was no board it would not have much merit.

Their recommendations were heard and moved on by Councilwoman Rene Neff, who made a motion to form the board with just four members, while still pursuing other candidates to round out the board for a total of six.

She also proposed removing the requirement that ethics board members live inside city limits but it was not supported.

“So much of our community is more than just our city limits,” she said. “We’ve had lots of time for people in Langley to step up, and they haven’t.”

The council discussed expanding the boundary to the urban growth area or the Langley ZIP code. Both were dismissed, however, because the urban growth area can change and the ZIP code was considered “arbitrary.”

Already appointed to the board are Sharon Betcher, Bob Frause, Monica Guzman and Fred Herzon. They are in charge of leading ethics training at city hall and handling any ethics complaints brought to them. They do not act in a judicial capacity, however, and their enforcement and investigative authority is limited.