A proposal to tighten Moreno Valley ethics rules is heightening divisions among City Council members in the middle of election season.

Tempers flared Tuesday night during a discussion on possible rules involving conflicts of interest. Council members traded accusations, and supporters on each side shouted at one another in the audience.

Discussion of possible reforms was put off until a future meeting. Much of the heated exchange centered on the behind-the-scenes negotiations for a proposal by council members LaDonna Jempson and Jeffrey Giba.

Their plan would have required stricter rules on the disclosure of financial conflicts of interest through donations to a council member or because of their employer. One of Giba’s suggestions would have required a council member employed by a public agency to sit out any discussion involving that agency.

Interim City Attorney Steve Quintanilla said that proposal would expand on current state law that already requires elected officials not to vote on decisions involving their private employer.

Mayor Yxstian Gutierrez, a teacher with the Moreno Valley Unified School District, accused Giba of targeting him to prevent him from taking part in issues involving the district.

“Other than not saying my name, it looked very specific,” he said.

Jempson asked Quintanilla to confirm that Gutierrez “stated he would sue the the city if we went forward.”

“The mayor stated he could sue,” he replied.

He elaborated Wednesday, saying he took Gutierrez’s statement not as a threat of litigation but as an expression of concern about the city’s vulnerability to a potential lawsuit.

Gutierrez quickly denied that he would sue, saying he only raised concerns that the proposal could be seen as a use of public resources for political purposes because he believed it would single him out during election season. He, Jesse Molina and George Price are running for mayor. Jempson is running for re-election.

Giba took issue with that portrayal.

“That is not correct,” he said. “You’re making accusations.”

Giba and Molina stepped off the council dais shortly afterward. Molina has proposed a separate set of reforms, including an ethics commission and campaign contribution limits.

“There they go; they storm out,” Gutierrez called out as they left.

Both, who later returned to the dais, said they went to use the restroom. Giba criticized the tone of the meeting, calling it inappropriate.

At one point, Gutierrez called for a break when audience members for and against the proposal began shouting at one another.

Giba said the proposal was still a work in progress and that the information “was deliberately leaked to cause problems.” He and Jempson had not included other council members so as not to violate the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law, Giba said.

Giba said there was no political motive for the conflict-of-interest rule. It aimed to avoid putting an elected official employed by a public agency in a difficult position where he may have to make a decision unpopular with his employer and colleagues, Giba said.

Comments from some residents centered on the influence of Highland Fairview CEO Iddo Benzeevi, the developer of the 40.6-million square-foot World Logistics Center. The company has spent more than $1 million dollars on political campaigns in the past few years.

In a statement Sunday, Benzeevi criticized the motives of Jempson, Giba and Molina.

“Isn’t it very suspect that this ‘reform’ is being proposed by the three council members that cannot raise any money?” he said.

Gutierrez supporters echoed that criticism, but others said the need for reform is long overdue.

“We need to know that you’re not being bought,” said resident Scott Heveran, who was among a group of residents wearing yellow T-shirts criticizing the influence of big money in politics.