Pursuant to the provisions of § 806 of the General Municipal Law, the Board of Trustees of the Village of Kings Point recognizes 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 Kings Point. These rules shall serve as a guide for official conduct of the officers and employees of the Village of Kings Point. 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 interest in contracts of municipal officers and employees.
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Kings Point 12-14-1970 by Ord. No. 34. Amendments noted where applicable.]
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.
An officer or employee of the Village of Kings Point whether paid or unpaid, including members of any administrative board, commission or other agency thereof. No person shall be deemed to be a "municipal officer or employee" solely by reason of being a volunteer fireman or civil defense volunteer, except a Chief Engineer or Assistant Chief Engineer.
[Amended 2-8-2000 by L.L. No. 1-2000; 1-21-2025 by L.L. No. 2-2025; 4-14-2026 by L.L. No. 4-2026]
Every officer or employee of the Village of Kings Point shall be subject to and abide by the following standards of conduct:
A.
Gifts. He shall not, directly or indirectly, solicit any gift or accept or receive any gift having a value in excess of the value of gifts permitted to be accepted by officers or employees of a state agency, as set forth in Subdivision 5 of § 73 of the Public Officers Law, or any successor statute thereto, whether in the form of money, services, loan, travel, entertainment, hospitality, thing or promise, or any other form, under circumstances in which it could reasonably be inferred that the gift was intended to influence him or could reasonably be expected to influence him in the performance of his official duties or was intended as a reward for any official action on his part.
B.
Confidential information. He shall not disclose confidential information acquired by him in the course of his official duties or use such information to further his personal interest.
C.
Representation before one's own agency. No person shall receive or enter into any agreement, express or implied, for compensation for services to be rendered in relation to any matter before any Village board or committee of which such person is an officer, member, or employee, or of any board or committee over which such person has jurisdiction, or to which such person has the power to appoint any member, officer, or employee, provided that this subsection shall not prohibit such agreement if such person first publicly discloses on the official record the nature and extent of such person’s financial or other private interest in the matter and recuses such person’s participating as a member of the board or committee at all hearings, deliberations, and decisions with regard to the matter.
D.
Representation before any agency for a contingent fee. He 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 municipality whereby his 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 knows thereof, a member of the Board of Trustees and any officer or employee of the Village of Kings Point, whether paid or unpaid, who participates in the discussion or gives official opinion to the Board of Trustees on any legislation before the 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 has in such legislation.
F.
Investments in conflict with official duties. He 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 official duties.
G.
Private employment. He shall not engage in, solicit, negotiate for or promise to accept private employment or render services for private interest when such employment or service creates a conflict with or impairs the proper discharge of his official duties.
H.
Future employment. He shall not, after the termination of service or employment with such municipality, appear before any board or agency of the Village of Kings Point in relation to any case, proceeding or application in which he personally participated during the period of his service or employment or which was under his active consideration.
I.
When applications require public hearings, it is incumbent upon board members to make decisions solely based upon the information, oral and documentary, that they receive at those hearings. That requirement ensures that the applicant is aware of any information provided to a member of the board adverse to the application to which the applicant may want to respond, and that the members of the public are aware of any information on behalf of the application to which they may want to respond. Accordingly, when an application is before any board of the Village:
(1)
If a person communicates to a board member orally, whether such person is the applicant or anyone else, the person shall immediately be told that the board member will not discuss the matter, and any communications should be made at the hearing on the record. That will serve two purposes: it will preserve the person's comments on the record in the event they may be relied upon in the board's decision, and it will allow other persons to respond to that comment.
(2)
If a person communicates to a board member in writing, including, but not limited to, by email, the board member shall not respond, but shall immediately forward the writing to the secretary of that board for distribution to the other board members and to be made part of the record of that application.
(3)
If a person still seeks to discuss an application with a board member after having been advised as set forth in Subsection I(1), the board member should terminate the discussion as quickly as possible, and report the name of the person and the substance of the conversation at the next public hearing.
(4)
Under no circumstances should any reliance be made by any board member on any information that is not on the record of the application or received after the close of the public hearing, unless it is announced during the public hearing that specific documentation will be accepted after the close of the public hearing portion of the application, for example, revised or corrected documents in accordance with the board's direction.
(5)
The foregoing does not apply to discussions with board members on the same board, information from Village staff to better understand the application, or advice of counsel.
Nothing herein shall be deemed to bar or prevent the timely filling by a present or former municipal officer or employee of any claim, account, demand or suit against the Village of Kings Point or any agency thereof on behalf of himself or any member of his family arising out of any personal injury or property damage or for any lawful benefit authorized or permitted by law.
[Amended 3-8-1983 by L.L. No. 4-1983]
The Village Clerk of the Village of Kings Point shall cause a copy of this Code of Ethics to be distributed to every officer and employee of the Village within 30 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. Neither the failure of the Village Clerk to cause a copy of the code to be distributed nor the failure of any officer or employee to receive a copy of the code shall relieve any officer or employee from his duty to comply with the code nor shall it preclude the enforcement of the provisions of the code against any such officer or employee.
[Amended 5-19-2003 by L.L. No. 8-2003]
In addition to the penalty provisions of Chapter 116 and any other provisions of law, any officer or employee of the Village who shall knowingly and intentionally violate any of the provisions of the Village Code may be suspended or removed from office or employment, as the case may be, in the manner provided by law.