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Home My WebLink AboutO-0770 - Code of ethics (2.80)ORD INANCE NO 71D ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MARYSVILLE RELATING TO CITY PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND EMPLOYEES,PROHIBITING ACTS RESULTING IN CONFLICT OF INTEREST,ESTABLISHING A CODE OF ETHICS FOR THE CITY OF MARYSVILLE OFFICIALS AND EMPLOYEES, AND PRESCRIBING PENALTIES THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MARYSVILLE,WASHINGTON, DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS Sectl0n I Declaratlon of POllCy Hlgh moral and ethlcal standards among publ1c officlals and publlC employees are essentlal to galn and malntaln the confldence of the publlC because such confldence lS essentlal to the conduct of free government They are agents of the people and hold thelr posltlons for the beneflt of the people The proper operatl0n of democratlc government requlres of publlC offlclals and employees that they be lndependent and lmpartlal when ~stabllshlng pOllCy and that thelr posltl0ns never be used for personal galn A code of ethlcal conduct lS necessary for the gUldance of publlC offlclals where confllcts do occur as well as to prevent confllcts of lnterest Sectlon 2 Falr and Equal Treatment. a Use of publlC property No offlclal or employee shall request or permlt the use of Clty owned vehlcles,equlpment, materlals,or property for personal convenlence or proflt,except when such serVlces are avallable to the publlC generally or are provlded as Clty pOllCy for the use of such offlClal or employee In the conduct of offlclal buslness b Obllgatl0ns to cltlzens No offlclal or employee shall grant,nor shall any cltlzen attempt to obtaln,any speclal conslderatlon,treatment,or advantage beyond that WhlCh lS avallable to every other cltlzen. Sectlon 3 Code of EthlCS The purpose of the code of ethlcs lS to asslst Clty officials and employees to'establlsh gUldellnes to govern thelr own conduct The code lS also lntended to help develop tradltl0ns of responslble publlC serVlce No offlclal or employee shall engage In any act WhlCh IS In confllct wlth the performance of hlS offlc1a1 dut1es An offlcla1 or employee shall be deemed to have conf11ct of 1nterest If he 1.Recelves or has any flnancla1 Interest In any sale to or by the Clty of any serVlce or property when such flnancla1 Interest was recelved wlth the prlor knowledge that the Clty Intended to purchase such property or obtaln such serVlce, 2 Accepts or seeks for others,any serVlce,Informatlon, or thlng of value on more favorable terms than those granted to the publlC generally,from any person,flrm or corporatlon,havlng dealIngs wIth the CIty, 3 Accepts any glft or favor from any person,flrm or corporatlon havlng any dealIngs wlth the Clty If he knows or has reason to know that It was Intended to obtaIn specIal consIderatIon, 4 Influences the se1ectlon of,or the conduct of bUSI- ness wlth a corporatlon,person or flrm,havlng buslness wlth the Clty 1f he personally or through household re1atlves shall have flnanclal Interest In or w1th said corporatlon,person,or flrm, 5 Is an employee,officer,partner,director,or consultant of any corporatIon,firm or person haVing buslness With the City,unless he has dlsclosed such re1atlonshlp as provlded by thIS ord1nance, 6.Engages In or accepts prIvate employment or renders serVices for prlvate Industry when such employment or serVlce IS IncompatIble WIth the proper dIscharge of hIS offICIal dutIes or would Impair hlS Independence of Judgment or actlon In the per- formance of hIS offlclal duties, 7 Appears In behalf of a private Interest before any regulatory governmental agency,or represents a prIvate Interest In any action or proceedIng agaInst the 1nterest of the City In any litigatlon to WhIch the Clty IS a party,unless he has a personal Interest and thlS personal Interest has been disclosed to the regulatory governmental agency A CIty councilman may appear before regulatory governmental agenCIes on behalf of con- stItuents In the course of hIS duties as a representative of the electorate or 1n the performance of pUblIC or CIV1C oblIgatIons However,no off1clal or employee shall accept a retainer or com- pensat10n that 1S contingent upon a speclf1c actiOn by a C1ty agency, 8 Directly or 1ndlrectly possesses a substantIal or controlling Interest In any bUSiness ent1ty Wh1Ch conducts bUS1ness or contracts WIth the CIty,or In the sale of real estate,materIals, suppl1es,or serVIces to the City,w1thout dlsclos1ng such Interest -2- v ("I t 1>'-f\~',. "r ....."J ' as provlded by thlS ord1nance An lnteres~lS not a substant1al lnterest lf such 1nterest does not exceed one tenth of one percent of the outstand1ng secur1t1es of the bUSlness concern,or,1f the lnterest lS an unlncorporated bus1ness concern,one percent of the net worth of such concern,or the flnancial lnterest of a corporatlon,person,or f1rm does not exceed flve percent of the net worth of the employee and hlS household relatlves, 9. As a Clty councl1man has a flnancla1 or other prlvate lnterest In any leg1slatl0n,or other matters comlng before the Counc11,and falls to dlsclose such an lnterest on the records of the Clty Councll ThlS prov1s10n shall not apply lf the Clty counCl1man dlsqua11fles hlmself from votlng by statlng the nature and extent of such lnterest Any other offlclal or employee who has a flnanclal or other prlvate lnterest,and who partlclpates In dlScussl0n w1th or glves an off1cla1 0plnl0n to the C1ty Councll and falls to dlsc10se on the records of the Clty Councl1 the nature and extent of such lnterest shall be deemed In vl01atlon of thlS ordlnance Sectlon 4 Pena1tles Any person wlllfully vl0latlng thlS ordlnance shall be guilty of a mlsdemeanor and shall also be subJect to the C1Vl1 penaltles provlded hereln for the negllgent vlolatl0n of thlS ordlnance An employee of the C11_y found gu i I ty of a ne gLagen t vlo1atlon of thlS ordlnance shall be subJect to C1Vl1 penaltles up to and lnc1ud1ng term1nat10n from employment and/or loss of pay not to exceed one month's salary Any elected offlclal found gUllty of a neg1lgent vl01atlon of thlS ordlnance shall be subJect to a C1V11 penalty of loss of pay not to exceed one month's salary In addltlon to the sanctl0ns for a1dlng,abett1ng,seek1ng or request1ng a v10lat10n of th1S ordlnance,any person or organlzatlon,WhlCh wll1ful1y attempts to secure preferent1a1 treatment 1n 1tS deallngs w1th the C1ty by offerlng any valuable glfts,whether In the form of servlces,loan, th1ng or prom1se,or any other form to any Clty off1c1a1 or employee, shall have lts current contracts wlth the C1ty canceled and shall not be able to bad on any other Ca ty contract for a pe r r od of two years. Sect10n 5 Jurlsdlctlon There 1S hereby created a Board of Ethics,composed of three members,one to be appolnted by the Mayor,one to be appolnted by two-thlrds vote of the Clty Councll,and the thlrd,who shall be cha1rman,to be appo1nted by the other two members The terms of the Board members shall be three years The flrst three members shall be appolnted for one, two and three year terms respectlvely The chalrman shall have a three-year term,the other terms are to be determlned by lot A member of the Board of EthlCS may be removed for Just cause by a -3- two-thlrds vote by the Clty Councll,but not the Mayor,after wrltten charges have been served on a member and a publ~c hearlng has been held by the Clty Councll The Board shall be advlsory and shall meet as frequently as lt deems necessary A maJorlty of the Board shall constitute a quorum Meetlngs shall be open or closed to the publlC at the dlscretlon of the Board and as allowed under the laws of the State of Washlngton Whenever requested by a Clty offlcial or employee or whenever It deems It In the publlC lnterest,the Board shall render advlsory 0plnlons,In wrltlng,concernlng questions of ethlcs, confllcts of lnterest,and the applicablllty of thlS ordlnance A wrltten copy of the Board's 0plnl0n shall be dellvered to the person requestlng the 0plnlon.The Board may publlSh thelr advlsory oplnlons, but only w~th such omlSSlons as may be necessary or proper to protect the confldence and prlvacy of Clty offlClals and employees A Board,on ltS own motlon,may lnvestlgate any suspected or alleged vlolatlon of thlS ordlnance The Board shall lnvestlgate all wrltten complalnts wlth regard to vlolatlon of thlS ordlnance The Board may admlnlster oath In connectlon wlth any matter under lnqulry Any wltness,ln a proceedlng before the Board of EthlCS, shall have the rlght to be represented by counsel The Board shall render a wrltten declsl0n when It has concluded ltS lnvestlgatlon Coples of the 0plnlon may be dellvered to the approprlate -C~ty'offlcers or released to the publlC at the dlscretlon of the Board.A copy of the 0plnl0n shall be pre- sented to the person or organlzatlon WhlCh was the subJect of the lnvestlgat~on No op~n~on,after an ~nvest~gatl0n,may be lssued unless the person complalned agalnst has had an opportunlty to have a falr hearlng Any person be~ng lnvestlgated may demand a publlc hear~ng Sectlon 6.Effectlve Date ThlS Ordlnance shall take effect from and after ltS passage and flve (5)days follow~ng ltS publlcatlon as requlred by law PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MARYSVILLE, WASHINGTON,t h i s I 7'-day of 1972 ATTEST dtf'rf1rKAi~ ~ORM It ttor THE CITY OF MARYSVILLEBY~dak>lM,A Y ~O R -4-