Four months of debate culminated in 18 last-minute amendments, but the five-member council has unanimously approved the stronger set of ethics rules.

Members had been at odds over how restrictive to make a lengthy ordinance.

Two of them - Bill Colbert and Stephanie Davis - favored extensive rules with harsh penalties. They said that was necessary to restore faith in public officials.

Meanwhile, two other councilmen - Peter Larkin and Jeff Stenquist - worried such rules could discourage volunteers - or might be used as a "hammer" against officials.

Stenquist said the council finally struck a good balance between the two feelings.

"I think we were able to strike a balance between raising the bar on ethics in the city without being too onerous in our restrictions," Stenquist said. "What we ended up with was good."

Colbert and Davis, who sponsored the ordinance, said they were "fairly happy" with the end product because they got most of what they wanted.

But both were concerned with an amendment that restricted communication between two council members. Under that clause, council members could not discuss any city business with one another unless they are before a full council. Stenquist said he wanted the clause added to ensure all city business occurs in the open.

"Council members should not discuss city business and make agreements on votes outside the public meeting. That's one of the things we have had problems with in the past," Stenquist said.

While she said that restriction probably wouldn't work, Davis said it is important to include communication restrictions between council members and developers.

"Talking with developers independently, while they have pending applications, undermines the public input and makes [developers] belligerent with city staff," Davis said. "[The new rule is] providing transparency."

The council does not want the ordinance to be used as a club against officials, so it added sanctions for filing false ethics complaints.

Davis said she hopes the ordinance will encourage more confidence in public officials.

"The reality is that there is no right way to do the wrong thing," she said. "And this just puts those guidelines in place."

sgehrke@sltrib.com