The council recommended at Tuesday’s meeting that all city employees, including board and commission members, be subject to mandatory training upon hiring. Council members recommended a 15-minute lecture on the danger of potential conflicts of interest.

The city manager and city attorney also will make themselves available at future commission meetings to answer questions on what constitutes a conflict of interest.

The council agreed that added emphasis on the danger of conflicts of interest would help deter any such acts.

If council members or city employees held 1 percent of stock in a privately traded company or $25,000 worth of stock in a publicly traded company, they couldn’t weigh in on decisions involving city contracts for that company, said Dennis McGinty, East Lansing’s city attorney.

Because the approval of contracts rests with the council and not boards and commissions, requiring financial disclosure isn’t necessary for the latter, McGinty said.

“A lot of people feel their investments are private,” McGinty said.

City Councilmember Nathan Triplett said he is concerned extending the city’s ethics policy to the members of all the city’s boards and commissions.

“Many people are sensitive about their financial information and their spouse’s financial information,” Triplett said.

Richard Hill-Rowley, a member of the East Lansing Planning Commission, said formal education on the city’s ethics policy isn’t required but commissioners can choose to attend.

“When I was appointed, I didn’t have any formal training on ethical issues,” Hill-Rowley said. “It’s sort of contingent on the individual to speak up.”