Ethics commission lawyer remains on leave

The state ethics commission on Thursday took no action concerning its attorney, Elisabeth Murray-Obertein, a week after a police report said she was intoxicated at work.

The commission, formally known as the Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, met privately in executive session for nearly two hours. Afterward, commissioners voted to give themselves the power to hire and fire employees, a duty that had been the executive director’s.

Neither Murray-Obertein or her attorney were present for the meeting and efforts to reach them were not immediately successful Thursday.