Lawrence Mayor Sue Hack is turning to the state’s Governmental Ethics Commission for guidance on how to properly separate her family’s business interests from her city duties.

In a written opinion approved Wednesday, the ethics commission said Hack’s job as the director of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Lawrence program doesn’t preclude her from serving on a new Destination Management Inc. board that has been formed to manage the operations of the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area.

“There is nothing in the local conflict of interest laws that would prohibit you from serving,” the ethics commission wrote in a unanimous opinion.

Hack had questions about whether she could legally serve on the board because it also includes a Lawrence Chamber of Commerce representative. Hack is entitled to serve on the board through her position as mayor, but had not yet joined the board because she wanted to first receive the opinion.

Hack said she was pleased with the ethics commission decision, and said she’ll likely ask the group for an opinion on how to gauge potential conflicts of interest related to her husband’s insurance business.

Hack said she is drafting a letter asking the commission for an opinion on when she must recuse herself when dealing with individuals who are clients of her husband’s insurance practice, CEK Insurance.

Hack said she is confident she has properly been recusing herself from city matters where she or her husband potentially could benefit financially, but she wants additional assurances from the ethics commission.

On her most recent substantial interest form, Hack has filed a list of clients that have paid more than $2,000 in fees or commissions to her husband in the past year. Hack said it is clear that she should not participate in the making of financial contracts with those companies, but said she wanted to seek guidance on whether she could hear land-use issues proposed by companies that do business with her husband.

“I want to be very upfront about all of this,” Hack said.

Hack said she also may change how she deals with the city’s budget when it comes to approving funding for the economic development program that is run by the chamber, which is her employer.

In the past, Hack has voted for the budget in its entirety, but has made statements acknowledging her employment by the chamber. She said she may ask the city to separate the chamber funding – about $195,000 in 2008 – out of the overall city budget so she can abstain from that vote.

“It probably isn’t a bad idea so someone doesn’t come back and question what we were doing,” Hack said.

Hack, though, said she had felt comfortable with her past practice because none of the money from the city is used to fund the Leadership Lawrence program.

Hack has turned to the ethics commission after members of the public alleged she did not properly recuse herself from discussions related to a package of economic development incentives for a start-up pharmaceuticals company. Hack has an ownership interest in the company, which she failed to properly disclose on a state-mandated substantial interest form.