The Village Board of the Village of Manlius recognizes that there are state statutory provisions mandating villages to establish rules and standards of ethical conduct for public officers and employees which, if observed, can enhance public confidence in local government. In the light of a tendency today on the part of some people to downgrade our local governments and to discredit our public servants and our free institutions generally, it appears necessary that every effort be made to assure the highest caliber of public administration of this Village as part of our state's important system of local government. It is the purpose of this chapter to implement this objective through the establishment of standards of conduct and to provide for the punishment of the violation of such standards.
The standards, prohibited acts and procedures established herein are in addition to any prohibited acts, conflict-of-interest provisions or procedures prescribed by statutes of the State of New York and also in addition to common-law rules and judicial decisions relating to the conduct of Village officers to the extent that the same are more severe in their application than this chapter.