No officer or employee of the City of Hoboken shall directly
solicit any gift or accept or receive any gift having a value of $25
or more, whether in the form of money, services, loan, travel, entertainment,
hospitability, thing or promise or any other form, under circumstances
in which it could reasonably be inferred that such gift was intended
to influence the officer or employee, or could reasonably be expected
to influence the officer or employee in the performance of official
duties or was intended as a regard for any official action on the
officer's or employee's part.
Unsolicited gifts or benefits of nominal value, such as complimentary
articles offered to the public in general, and gifts received as result
of mass advertising mailings to the general business public may be
retained by the employee or employee's department for general
use if such use does not create an impression of a conflict of interest
or a violation of the public trust.
Unsolicited gifts of a perishable nature, such as food, may
be donated to a nonprofit entity holding 501(c) status by the United
States Internal Revenue Service. All other unsolicited gifts shall
be immediately returned to the sender.
This policy shall not be applicable to political contributions made pursuant to federal and state election law, provided said contributions are in full compliance with the City's Public Contractor Reform Ordinance, §
20A-11 et seq., of the Code of the City of Hoboken.
This policy shall supersede any previous gift policy established
by the City, including any employee handbook promulgated and distributed
to City employees.
Any violations of the foregoing policy shall subject the violator
to appropriate discipline pursuant to the established policies of
the City as well as the rules and regulations of the New Jersey Civil
Service Commission, and a report of the violation shall be transmitted
to the Local Finance Board within the New Jersey Department of Community
Affairs for review as a potential violation of the New Jersey Local
Government Ethics Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:9-22.1 et seq.