As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
BOARD or BOARD MEMBERS
The governing board of a Town and any Town administrative
board (e.g., Planning Board, Zoning of Board of Appeals, etc.), commission,
or other agency or body comprised of two or more Town officers or
employees.
CODE
This Schodack Town Code of Ethics.
CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
Information that at the time of its disclosure or use by
a Town official is not generally available to the public or is exempt
from disclosure by state or federal statute.
INTEREST
A direct or indirect financial or material benefit, but does
not include any benefit arising from the provision or receipt of any
services generally available to the residents or taxpayers of the
Town or an area of the Town, or a lawful class of such residents or
taxpayers. A Town officer or employee is deemed to have an interest
in any private organization when he or she or a relative is an owner,
partner, member, director, officer, employee, or directly or indirectly
owns or controls more than 5% of the organization's outstanding
stock.
RECUSAL
The official shall not be present, deliberate, vote or participate
in any way in a matter in which they or a relative has an interest.
When an official recuses himself or herself, they may not provide
input from the audience as a member of the public.
RELATIVE
A spouse, domestic partner, parent, stepparent, sibling,
stepsibling, sibling's spouse, child, stepchild, or household
member of a Town officer or employee, and individuals having any of
these relationships to the spouse/domestic partner of the officer
or employee.
TOWN
The Town of Schodack.
TOWN OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE
A paid or unpaid officer, employee, or appointed independent
contractor of the Town of Schodack, including, but not limited to,
the members of any Town board.
This code applies to the officers and employees of the Town,
and shall supersede any prior code. The provisions of this code shall
apply in addition to all applicable state and local laws relating
to conflicts of interest and ethics, including, but not limited to,
Article 18 of the New York General Municipal Law and all rules, regulations,
policies, and procedures duly adopted by the Town.
No Town officer or employee shall use his or her Town position
or official powers and duties to secure a financial or material benefit
for himself or herself, a relative, or any private organization in
which he or she has a reported interest.
No Town officer or employee, during his or her tenure as a Town
officer or employee, may engage in any private employment, including
the rendition of any business, commercial, professional or other types
of services, when the employment:
A. Can be reasonably expected to require more than excessive recusal and abstention pursuant to §
27-6 hereof;
B. Can be reasonably expected to require disclosure or use of confidential
information gained by reason of serving as a Town officer or employee;
C. Requires representation of a person or organization other than the
Town in connection with litigation, negotiations or any other matter
to which the Town is a party. In addition, no Town officer or employee
may receive or enter into any agreement, express or implied, for compensation
for services to be rendered in relation to any matter before any Town
board or agency of which he is an officer, member, or employee, or
of any municipal agency over which he has jurisdiction or to which
he has the power to appoint any member, officer or employee; or receive,
or enter into any agreement, express or implied, for compensation
for services to be rendered in relation to any matter before any board
or agency of the Town, whereby his compensation is to be dependent
or contingent upon any action by such board or 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.
This code shall not be construed as prohibiting a Town officer
or employee from:
A. Representing himself or herself, or his or her spouse or minor children
before the Town; or
B. Asserting a claim against the Town on his or her own behalf, or on
behalf of his or her spouse or minor children.
Except as otherwise required by law:
A. No Town officer or employee, either individually or as a member of
a board, may participate in any decision specifically to appoint,
hire, promote, discipline or discharge a relative for any position
at, for, or within the Town or a Town board.
B. Town board members shall recuse themselves from deliberations and
abstain from voting on items pertaining to their relatives.
C. Elected officials' spouse/domestic partner, sibling, child(ren)/stepchild(ren),
brother-/sister-in-law, or son-/daughter-in-law shall not be hired
or appointed to any position in the Town during the elected officials'
term in office where such elected official would be a direct supervisor
of the person hired or appointed in such position.
D. Nothing contained herein shall prevent those Town officers and employees
who, as of the effective date of this Code of Ethics, currently serve
the Town from continuing to do so. Those persons shall be grandfathered
in and allowed to remain in their current positions.
E. Whenever a relative of a Town officer seeks seasonal employment,
the potential appointment will be forwarded to the Human Resources
official for final review to assure compliance with the Town's
current hiring guidelines. Seasonal employment shall be defined as
employment for not more than 14 weeks per calendar year regardless
of the number of hours per week the seasonal employee works.
F. Whenever a relative of a Town officer or employee would be appointed
based on their reachable status for selection from an appropriate
civil service eligibility list; the potential appointment will be
forwarded to the Human Resources official for final review to assure
compliance with the Town's current hiring guidelines.
G. No Town officer or employee may directly supervise a relative in
the performance of the relative's official powers or duties unless
the following conditions have been met:
(1) Hiring or appointment guidelines of the Town have been observed.
(2) A nonrelated individual has been assigned as manager to conduct performance
evaluations and recommend promotions or advancements.
Any Town officer or employee who violates this code may be censured,
fined, suspended or removed from office or employment.
By the 15th day of February, the Board of Ethics shall present
to the Town Board an annual report of its activities for the prior
year.