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-7- 17. Sec. 12.02, Personal interest and Code of Ethics, should be amended by adding a part (5) to Subsection (c) to provide an additional responsibility and duty of the Ethics Review Commission as follows: "Review and monitor financial reports required by Election Code with respect to city-sponsored elections." the Texas JUSTIFICATION: The legislature in 1987 changed financial reporting requirements to provide that all financial reports pertaining to local elections should be filed with the City Secretary. The Ethics Review Commission regularly reviews the financial reports required by the City's Ethics Ordinance. In light of the legislature's recent action, the financial reports which now should be filed with the City Secretary pertaining to elections could be seen as an adjunct to the City's own financial requirements. At the present time, no official organization or entity has any responsibility for reviewing such reports. This lack of oversight detracts from the significance of filing such reports. 18. Sec. 12.06, Special provisions covering damage suits, should amended as follows: be "Before the City shall be liable to damage claim or suit for personal injury, or damage to property, the person who is injured or whose property is damaged or someone in that person's behalf shall give the City Manager or the person performing the duties of City Secretary notice in writing within ninety (90) days after the occurrence of the alleged injury, or damage, stating specifically in such notice when, where or how the injury was sustained, and setting forth the extent of the injury or damage as accurately as possible. Provided, however, that the ninety (90) day notice requirement of this section may be extended by a court of competent jurisdiction for good cause shown if the injured party has exercised due diligence, if any delay in giving the notice ~uired by this section is not the result of conscious indifference by the party and if there is no substantial harm to the City caused by the delay...." JUSTIFICATION: Over the last few years, several Texas courts have held that ninety (90) days is an insufficient period of time to give notice of a damage claim or suit for personal injury or damage to property. There are two ways to correct this problem: The ninety (90) day time period can be extended to One Hundred Twenty (120) days or One Hundred Eighty (180) days, for example, or a good cause provision can be included with the notice requirement. The Charter Review Commission is recommending the above good cause provision so that the City can receive the maximum protection possible from late-filed damage suits. However, neither the Charter Review Commission or the City Attorney can state with certainty that this provision will be upheld by Texas courts. The Commission does believe that the suggested provision is reasonable and fair to prospective claimants as well as to the City.