City of La Crosse Mayor Matt Harter says he will seek the guidance of the city’s ethics board about his involvement in the county’s solid waste study.

The mayor’s ethics were questioned when he brought his dad to a meeting with the county’s solid waste department director last month. The mayor’s dad owns Harter’s Quick Clean-Up, a solid waste business that is currently under contract with the city.

On Wednesday, the city’s attorney was asked to form a legal opinion of whether the mayor violated the city’s ethics code. Mayor Harter says he’s seeking the ethics board’s guidance on the solid waste study and other issues so he knows how much he should or shouldn’t get involved.

Mayor Harter says, "I will use my history and experience that we are moving forward with the best possible program that we can. Well, in order to do that, i feel that it’s appropriate to have clear lines drawn to where my participation should stop.”

Mayor Harter says he will call the city’s ethics board to set up a meeting. He says they will likely meet two weeks from today.

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STORY FROM 3/17/10:

An email has prompted the city of La Crosse Attorney Stephen Matty to look into the conduct of the city’s mayor.

Matty says the email came from city council member Dick Swantz. Swantz wants an inquiry into whether the mayor violated the city’s ethics policy last month.

Matty says when he is asked by someone in public office to look into a possible ethics violation, he’s required by state law to give an opinion.

"I haven’t given it a lot of thought since getting the request and I need to think it through before putting anything together right now.”

Matty says he has to look at what occurred during a meeting that the mayor had last month with the county’s Solid Waste Department director.

Last week, Hank Koch told me he felt uncomfortable when Mayor Harter brought his dad to that meeting. That’s because Harter's’s father owns Harter’s Quick Clean-Up.

Koch says that’s when they asked him not to proceed with a solid waste study.

"Assuming that this is how it played out to be that this is what happened, how do those facts apply to Chapter 19.5 of the state law, how does that apply to the city’s ethics code, and was there something that should have been done," Matty explained.

Mayor Matt Harter said, "I’ve read the ethics code and wouldn’t have done what I've done if I thought that it violated the ethics code.”

Mayor Harter says he welcomes opinions on this and other issues facing the city. He says, "I'll use all the resources we have and all the opinions given to make sure that we are operating within guidelines and policies that are set by the city.”

Matty says he has no intention of doing any type of investigation, "no intention of interviewing any particular individuals, not building a case one way or another. It’s just assuming a particular set of facts then here would be an opinion based on these set of facts.”

Though Matty says if some things are unclear he would work to get clarification before forming his opinion.

"The last thing I want to be doing is going off on any particular tangent. I want to make sure that I’m answering the questions that are asked of me," Matty said.

And he’ll give his opinion once he’s had time to gather all the facts. An opinion that Matty says he must present it to the city council member who requested it and to the city clerk.

Then his work is essentially done and it’s up to the district attorney on whether he wants to look further into the issue.