[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Colonie 8-28-1995
by L.L. No. 2-1995; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Officers and employees — See Ch. 37.
Pursuant to the provisions of § 806 of the General Municipal
Law, the Mayor and the Board of Trustees of the Village of Colonie, New York,
recognize that there are rules of ethical conduct for public officers and
employees which must be observed if a high degree of moral conduct is to be
obtained and if public confidence is to be maintained in our unit of local
government. It is the purpose of this chapter to promulgate these rules of
ethical conduct for the officers and employees of the Village of Colonie,
New York. These rules shall serve as a guide for the official conduct of the
officers and employees of the Village of Colonie, New York. The rules of ethical
conduct of this chapter, as adopted, shall not conflict with but shall be
in addition to any prohibition of Article 18 of the General Municipal Law
or any other general or special law relating to ethical conduct and conflict
of interest of municipal officers and employees.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
A pecuniary or material benefit accruing to a municipal officer or
employee unless the context otherwise requires. "Interest," as used herein,
also includes pecuniary or material benefit accruing to the municipal officer's
or employee's spouse, minor children and dependents; a firm, partnership
or association of which such officer or employee is a member or employee;
a corporation of which such officer or employee is an officer, director or
employee; and a corporation of which more than 5% of the outstanding capital
stock is owned by any of the aforesaid parties.
An officer or employee of the Village of Colonie, New York, whether
paid or unpaid, including members of any administrative board, commission
or other agency thereof, whether serving in a full-time, part-time or advisory
capacity, paid or unpaid. No person shall be deemed to be a "municipal officer
or employee" solely by reason of being a volunteer fireman or civil defense
volunteer.
Every officer or employee of the Village of Colonie, New York, shall
be subject to and shall abide by the following standards of conduct:
A.
Gifts. He or she shall not, directly or indirectly, solicit
any gifts or accept or receive any gift having a value greater than specified
by state law, whether in the form of money, services, a loan, travel, entertainment,
hospitality, thing or promise or any other form, under circumstances in which
it would reasonably be inferred that the gift was intended to influence him
in the performance of his official duties or was intended as a reward for
any official action on his part. However, recognizing the prevalent and accepted
practice of the giving of gifts during the Christmas season, such gifts are
specifically excepted from this section when it is clearly understood that
the receipt of the gifts will not influence the recipient in the performance
of his duty. Each member of the Village Board of Trustees, Planning Commission
and Zoning Board of Appeals shall file a full and complete list of such Christmas
and other gifts for said year and shall submit such lists to the Chairman
of the Board of Ethics for the private information of said Board prior to
January 31 of the following year. Gifts received at times other than Christmas
shall be inventoried by the recipients on the aforesaid Boards, and a list
of such gifts shall be submitted simultaneously with the submission of the
list of Christmas gifts. Each member of the aforesaid Boards must individually
file a declaration of gifts, whether or not he or she has received any gifts.
B.
Confidential information. He or she shall not disclose
confidential information acquired by him or her in the course of his or her
official duties or use such information to further his or her personal interest.
He or she shall not disclose, without proper authorization, any confidential
information concerning the affairs of the Village of Colonie. Any inquiring
person shall be directed to the public records of the village. Records of
all village departments not stated to be public records shall be considered
to be confidential.
C.
Representation before one's own agency. He or she
shall not receive or enter into any agreement, express or implied, for compensation
for services to be rendered in relation to any matter before any municipal
agency of which he or she is an officer, member or employee or of any municipal
agency over which he or she has jurisdiction or to which he or she has the
power to appoint any member, officer or employee.
D.
Representation before any agency for a contingent fee.
He or she shall not receive or enter into any agreement, express or implied,
for compensation for services to be rendered in relation to any matter before
any agency of his or her municipality, whereby his or her compensation is
to be dependent or contingent upon any action by such agency with respect
to such matter, provided that this subsection shall not prohibit the fixing
at any time of fees based upon the reasonable value of the services rendered.
E.
Disclosure of interest in legislation. To the extent
that he or she knows thereof, a member of the Board of Trustees and any officer
or employee of the Village of Colonie, New York, whether paid or unpaid or
full-time or part-time or advisory, who participates in the discussion or
gives an official opinion to the Mayor and/or Board of Trustees on any legislation
before the Mayor and/or Board of Trustees shall publicly disclose on the official
record the nature and extent of any direct or indirect financial or other
private interest he or she has in such legislation.
F.
Investments in conflict with official duties. He or she
shall not invest or hold any investment, directly or indirectly, in any financial,
business, commercial or other private transaction which creates a conflict
with his or her official duties.
G.
Private employment. He or she shall not engage in, solicit,
negotiate for or promise to accept private employment or render services for
private interests when such employment or service creates a conflict with
or impairs the proper discharge of his or her official duties.
H.
Future employment. He or she shall not, after the termination
of service or employment with such municipality, appear before any board or
agency of the Village of Colonie, New York, in relation to any case, proceeding
or application in which he or she personally participated during the period
of his or her service or employment or which was under his or her active consideration.
No officer or employee of the Village of Colonie, New York, whether
paid or unpaid, including members of any administrative board, commission
or other agency thereof, whether serving in a full-time, part-time or advisory
capacity, shall decline or refuse to answer questions specifically or directly
relating to the performance of his or her official duties before any official,
board or agency authorized or empowered to so inquire into the performance
of such duties. This section shall not be construed as barring any county
officer or employee from exercising his or her constitutional privilege against
self-incrimination; however, when such body or agency is wholly civil in nature,
failure to fully cooperate with and diligently answer the inquiries of such
board or agency shall constitute grounds for dismissal or removal of said
officer or employee.
Nothing herein shall be deemed to bar or prevent the timely filing by
a present or former municipal officer or employee of any claim, account, demand
or suit against the Village of Colonie, New York, or any agency thereof on
behalf of himself or herself or any member of his or her family arising out
of any personal injury or property damage or for any lawful benefit authorized
or permitted by law.
The Village Clerk of the Village of Colonie, New York, shall cause a
copy of this Code of Ethics to be distributed to every officer and employee,
part-time or full-time or in any advisory capacity, paid or unpaid, of the
Village of Colonie, New York, within 10 days after the effective date of this
chapter. Each officer and employee elected or appointed thereafter shall be
furnished a copy before entering upon the duties of his office or employment.
In addition, copies shall be made available to the public at the local public
library.
In addition to any penalty contained in any other provision of law,
any person who shall knowingly and intentionally violate any of the provisions
of this code may be subject to a fine not to exceed $250, suspended or removed
from office or employment, as the case may be, in the manner provided by law.
A.
Membership. There is hereby established a Board of Ethics
consisting of five members, to be appointed by the Village Board. A majority
of such members shall be persons other than officers or employees of the Village
of Colonie but may include at least one member who is an elected or appointed
officer or employee of the Village of Colonie. No more than three members
of such Board of Ethics shall be of the same political registration.
B.
Term, vacancy and compensation. Members of the Board
of Ethics shall serve at the pleasure of the Village Board. Any vacancy shall
be filled in the same manner in which the original appointment was made. The
members of the Board of Ethics shall serve as such without compensation but
shall be entitled to receive their actual disbursements and expenses in performing
the duties of their office.
C.
Duties. The Board of Ethics shall have the powers and
duties prescribed by Article 18 of the General Municipal Law and shall render
advisory opinions to the officers and employees of the Village of Colonie
with respect to Article 18 of the General Municipal Law in any Code of Ethics
adopted pursuant to such Article, under such rules and regulations as the
Board may prescribe. In addition, the Board of Ethics may make recommendations
with respect to the drafting and adoption of a Code of Ethics or amendments
thereto upon request of the Village Board.
D.
Rules and regulations.
(1)
The Board of Ethics, upon adopting rules and regulations
relative to the conduct of its business, may render advisory opinions subject
to these limitations:
(a)
Requests for opinions shall be in writing.
(b)
Requests for inquiries must originate with a municipal
officer or employee.
(d)
The form and content of requests for opinions, which
may include indication that certain municipal officials or employees have
been advised of such requests.
[1]
A copy of any charges brought against an official or
employee shall be sent to such person by the Secretary of the Board of Ethics,
together with a notice that such official or employee is given a reasonable
period of time in which to respond to the charges made against him or her.
[3]
A copy of the opinion of the Board of Ethics shall be
sent to the person making the inquiry and to the official or employee about
whom the inquiry or charge is made.
(2)
Rules and regulations adopted to govern the conduct of
meetings of the Board shall include the following:
(a)
The selection in terms of office of a Chairman and Secretary
and such other officers as are deemed necessary if such designations have
not been made by the governing board.
(b)
The number of Board members constituting a quorum.
(c)
The number of Board members necessarily in affirmative
agreement to render an opinion.
(d)
The form and content of the records of proceedings and
other Board records.
(e)
Such other rules and regulations as may be necessary
and proper to accomplish the purposes of this chapter.
It is not the intention of this chapter to relax the common law rules,
statutory provisions and judicial decisions concerning conflict of interest,
duties of officers and employees and enforcement and penalty provisions; therefore,
all such common law rules, statutory provisions and judicial decisions shall
remain in full force and effect, provided that said common law rules, statutory
provisions and judicial decisions are of greater severity in their application
than the provisions of this chapter.
