Chief Jim Silvernail, Director Bonnie Stegman, Assistant Chief Steve Mossotti and District Clerk Carla Juelfs of the Mehlville Fire Protection District were among 300 elected and appointed Missouri public officials who attended an all-day conference on ethical and legal issues sponsored by Attorney General Jay Nixon last week in Jefferson City.

“The first step in the fight to clean up government includes educating public officials on the laws defining ethics in government,” Nixon stated in a news release. “I commend those from the Mehlville Fire Protection District for attending this conference. It is important for all public officials to know these laws, including those governing public access to information, nepotism, conflict of interest and misappropriating of public resources.”

Sessions at the conference covered the state’s Open Meetings and Records Law, also called the Sunshine Law; conflicts and disclosure/election/ethics; consumer-protection services available from the attorney general; the Americans with Disabilities Act; the effect of the Hancock Amendment on local government; employment issues; nepotism; environmental issues; sexual harassment; and sovereign immunity.

“Local public officials in Missouri are faced with important ethical and legal questions every day and the attorney general’s conference went a long way toward preparing us to face those issues,” Silvernail stated. “I look forward to using this valuable information in serving the citizens of the Mehlville Fire Protection District.’