Bellevue City Councilmember Kevin Wallace has been cleared of any conflict of interest involving his council duties and a proposed light-rail line through Bellevue.

A report by attorney Jeffry Coopersmith, who oversaw the investigation of Wallace, as well as prior investigations of council members Claudia Balducci and Grant Degginger, was given to the council Monday night.

“I do take my role as a council member very seriously,” Wallace said. “I want the citizens of Bellevue to know that they can have confidence in their council to deal fairly and independently with the city’s pressing issues.”

Coopersmith’s investigation of Wallace focused on three areas: whether his support of a downtown light rail route that would potentially have a beneficial impact on property owned by his parents violated state or local law; whether his advocacy of a B7 light rail alignment in south Bellevue, while he was at the same discussing a potential business deal with a now bankrupt railroad freight line, GNP Rly. Inc., violated state or local law; and whether Wallace improperly tried to use city resources to benefit GNP or himself.

In every instance, Coopersmith concluded that Wallace had not violated any laws related to conflicts of interest. Wallace said he cooperated fully with the review and that Coopersmith’s report verifies conclusions reached by a legal expert Wallace asked to review the issues.

“ I take my role as a council member very seriously and wanted the citizens of Bellevue to know they can have the confidence in their council to deal fairly and independently with our city’s pressing issues,” Wallace said. “Mr. Coopermith’s report confirms there was no conflict of interest on my part.”

Coopersmith released two earlier reports in June that cleared counncilmembers Grant Degginger and Claudia Balducci of alleged conflicts of interest related to their involvement with East Link.

Degginger works for a law firm that has represented Sound Transit on projects outside of Bellevue, and he represented Sound Transit in 2003 on a case in Tacoma. Balducci is a board member of Sound Transit, the agency that will build and operate a light rail line in Bellevue. In both instances, Coopersmith concluded there were no conflicts.

Several councilmembers on Monday called for the creation of an ethics code specifically for the council. Mayor Don Davidson directed staff to make the development of such a code a priority.

Currently, there is no such local code. The conduct of municipal officers, including council members, is governed by two state statutes (RCW 42.23.030 and RCW 42.23.070). City employees, department directors and the city manager do have local ethics codes to govern their actions.