[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of West Hartford 9-12-1972
(Secs. 2-75 through 2-89 of the 1972 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
The proper operation of the Town government requires that public officers,
officials and employees be independent, impartial and responsible to the people,
that governmental decisions and policies be made in the proper channels of
the governmental structure, that public office and employment not be used
for personal gain and that the public has confidence in the integrity of its
government. The purpose of this code is to set forth standards of ethical
conduct; to assist public officers, officials and employees in establishing
guidelines for their conduct; and to develop and maintain a tradition of responsible
and effective public service. In recognition of these goals, there is hereby
established for the Town the following Code of Ethics.
As used in this chapter, the following words or phrases, unless a different
meaning is required by the context or is specifically prescribed, shall have
the meanings indicated:
Includes all departments, boards, commissions, committees and the
Town Council of the Town.
Members of the Town Council, boards, commissions, committees, departments
or other agencies, whether the officers, officials and members are elected
or appointed, and all employees of the Town Board of Education, whether paid
or unpaid, but shall not mean Justices of the Peace.
As distinguished from private financial interest, includes an interest
arising from a blood or marriage relationship or close business association.
Includes the private financial interest of a spouse or minor child
of an officer, official or employee of the Town.
All officers, officials and employees of the Town should be loyal to
the objectives and purposes of the Town as expressed by the electorate, the
Charter and the ordinances and the programs developed to attain those objectives.
All should adhere to the rules and regulations of performance and work established
as the standards for their positions by the appropriate authority. They should
not exceed their authority nor seek to have others do so, and they shall work
in full cooperation with other public officers, officials and employees unless
prevented from so doing by law, by good conscience or by the officially recognized
confidential nature of their work.
No officer, official or employee shall request or permit himself or
herself or others the use of Town-owned or -leased vehicles, equipment, materials
or property for personal convenience or profit, except when such services
are available to the public generally or are provided in conformance with
established Town policies for the use of such officers, officials or employees
in the conduct of Town business.
No officer, official or employee shall grant any special consideration,
treatment or advantage to any citizen beyond that which is available to every
other citizen.
No officer, official or employee of the Town shall engage in any business
or transaction or shall have a private financial interest or personal interest,
direct or indirect, which is incompatible or in conflict with the proper discharge
of his or her official duties in the public interest or would tend to impair
the independence of judgment or action in the performance of the official
duties of the officer, official or employee of the Town.
[1]
Editor's Note: See C.G.S. § 7-479.
No member of the Council or any other officer or employee of the Town
shall be financially interested, directly or indirectly, either as principal,
surety, officer, partner or otherwise, except as a minority stockholder or
except as a director in a corporation, in any contract with sales to, purchases
from or compensable services made with or rendered to the Town. The provisions
of this section shall not apply to any contract awarded to the lowest responsible
bidder after public advertisement.
Except as may be required by law, no officer, official or employee of
the Town shall disclose any confidential information concerning the property,
government business or affairs of the Town, and neither shall such officer,
official or employee use such information to advance the private financial
interest of himself or herself or others.
No officer, official or employee shall accept or solicit any valuable
gift, whether in the form of service, loan, thing, promise or any other form,
from any person who, to his or her knowledge, is interested, directly or indirectly,
in any manner whatsoever, in business dealings with the Town, or which gift
may tend to influence such officer, official or employee in the discharge
of his or her official duties, in granting any improper favor, service or
thing of value.
No officer, official or employee shall appear in behalf of private interests
before any agency of the Town, nor shall such officer, official or employee
represent private interests in any action or proceeding against the Town in
any litigation when said appearance or representation would be in conflict
with or would tend to impair his or her independence of judgment and action
in the performance of official duties as such officer, official or employee.
An elected officer or official shall not appear before a Town agency except
on behalf of constituents in the course of performing his or her duties as
a representative of the electorate. An officer, official or employee may appear
before a Town agency in the performance of official, public or civic obligations.
[Amended 5-24-1977]
A.
Any officer, official or employee who has a private financial
interest in any action, legislative or otherwise, by any Town agency and who
is a member of, participates in discussion with or gives an official opinion
to such Town agency shall disclose on the written records of such agency the
true nature and extent of such interest. This section shall not apply to:
(1)
Contracts awarded to the lowest responsible bidder after
public advertisement.
(2)
Unpaid appointed officials during a declared state of
emergency.
(3)
Matters requiring disclosure to or approval by a court.
(4)
Interests by virtue of ownership of stock in a publicly
held corporation in an amount less than 10% of all issued and outstanding
stock.
B.
Every elected official, excluding Justices of the Peace
and Selectmen, shall, on or before January 1 each year, file with the Town
Clerk, on a form to be prepared by the Corporation Counsel, a statement, under
oath, containing the following information:
(1)
All real estate located within the Town of West Hartford
owned by such elected official or held under a lease for a term exceeding
five years, excluding, however, his or her principal residence. The foregoing
shall also apply to real estate owned or leased, as aforesaid, by a corporation,
trust or partnership in which any such elected official is the legal or equitable
holder of at least 5% of the legal or equitable interests in said corporation,
trust or partnership.
(2)
The names of any firm, proprietorship, partnership or
corporation of which said elected official is an employee or in which such
elected official holds at least a five-percent interest and which firm, proprietorship,
partnership or corporation has sold or supplied goods or services in excess
of $10,000 per annum to the Town of West Hartford during the two years immediately
preceding such official's election to office.
(3)
Any income, fees, salary or wages directly or indirectly
received by such elected official from the Town of West Hartford or its political
subdivisions during the two years immediately preceding such official's election
to public office.
A.
No paid officer, official or employee appointed by the
Town Manager or by the Board of Education shall use the prestige of his or
her position in behalf of any political party.
B.
No officer, official or employee shall promise an appointment
to any paid position under the Town Manager or the Board of Education as a
reward for any political activity.
[Amended 5-11-1982]
A.
There is hereby established a Commission on Ethics consisting
of five members, to be appointed by the Town Council for a term of two years,
such term to start 60 days after each new Town Council takes office. Two members
of the Commission shall be resident electors of the Town of West Hartford
not members of the same political party, neither of whom shall be a Town officer,
official or employee and one of whom shall be an attorney at law. Three members
of the Commission shall be Councilors, not more than two of whom shall be
members of the same political party. The Town Manager shall be a nonvoting
member of the Commission for employee matters only.
B.
If a vacancy occurs before the end of a term, a member
shall be appointed by the Town Council for the unexpired portion of the term.
C.
When an officer, official or employee has doubt as to
the applicability of a provision of this chapter to any specific situation,
he or she may apply to the Commission on Ethics for an advisory opinion and
shall be guided thereby. Such officer, official or employee shall have an
opportunity to present his or her interpretation of the facts at issue and
the applicable provision or provisions of this chapter, as requested by him
or her, before such advisory opinion is made.
The Commission on Ethics established by this chapter shall have the power and duty of enforcing §§ 16-1 through 16-12. The Commission shall adopt and promulgate reasonable rules and regulations for the administration of this chapter, which shall be available to any elector of the Town upon request to the Commission. The Commission shall render advisory opinions to any agency of the Town and to officers, officials and employees pursuant to written request or upon its own initiative. All requests for opinions and opinions rendered therein shall be confidential and shall not be open to public inspection or disclosure. The Commission may, in its discretion, make public opinions which it believes will be in the public interest, but no such opinion shall be made public until deletions as may be necessary have been made to prevent disclosure of the identity of the officer, official or employee involved.
A.
If any elected official, except a member of the Board
of Education, shall be found by the Town Council to have knowingly violated
the provisions of this chapter, the fact of such violation shall be noted
upon the official records of the Town Council.
B.
All other persons who shall be subject to this chapter
and who shall knowingly violate its provisions shall be subject to removal
from office in accordance with the provisions of Chapter XIV, Section 6, of
the Charter of the Town.
