[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Lima 6-3-2010 by L.L. No.
2-2010. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
Pursuant to the provisions of § 806 of the General Municipal
Law, the Town Board of the Town of Lima 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 Town of Lima. These
rules shall serve as a guide for official conduct of the officers
and employees of the Town of Lima. 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.
B.
Pursuant to the provisions of § 808 of the General Municipal
Law, the Town Board of the Town of Lima intends to implement this
objective through the establishment of standards of conduct, to provide
for punishment of violation of such standards, and to create a Board
of Ethics to render advisory opinions to the Town's officers
and employees as provided herein.
C.
The Town Board further recognizes that it is authorized by Municipal
Home Rule Law to supersede certain provisions of § 808 of
the General Municipal Law in the creation and governance of the Town
Board of Ethics and by this chapter elects to do so.
Chapter 20 of the Code of the Town of Lima, entitled "Code of Ethics," is hereby amended, repealed and superseded by this enactment, which shall be entitled "Ethics Code Local Law of the Town of Lima."
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
"Treasurer" is the Town Supervisor, a fire district treasurer,
improvement district treasurer, or other officer possessing similar
powers and duties. If such position is officially created by the Town,
a chief fiscal officer is a comptroller, commissioner of finance,
director of finance or other officer possessing similar powers and
duties.
A conflict of interest is a limitation on the holding of
a municipal office when the holder of the office has certain other
private interests affecting the municipality.
Discretionary powers are outlined in General Municipal Law
§ 801 and include the power or duty to negotiate, prepare,
authorize or approve the contract, or authorize or approve payment
thereunder; audit bills or claims under the contract; or appoint an
officer or employee with any of these powers or duties.
A direct or indirect pecuniary (monetary) benefit accruing
to an individual as a result of a contract he or she has with a municipality
for which he or she also serves as an officer or an employee. Municipal
officers and employees are deemed to have an interest in the contracts
of the following individuals and entities, whether or not the officer
or employee directly received a pecuniary or material benefit from
such contracts:
His or her spouse, minor children and dependents, except a contract
of employment with the municipality which the officer or employee
serves;
A firm, partnership or association of which the officer or employee
is a member or employee;
A corporation of which the officer or employee is an officer,
director or employee; and
A corporation, any stock of which is owned or controlled directly
or indirectly by the officer or employee.
A contract is any claim, account or demand against or agreement
with a municipality, express or implied, and includes the designation
of a depository of public funds and the designation of a newspaper,
including but not limited to an official newspaper.
As used in this chapter, a municipality is a town, public
library, water district, sewer district, or any agency or instrumentality
of said town.
This term means an officer or employee of a municipality,
whether paid or unpaid, including members of any administrative board,
commission or other agency thereof. No person will be deemed to be
a municipal officer or employee solely by reason of being town engineer
or town attorney or accountant or bookkeeper for the town, or a volunteer
fireman or civil defense volunteer, except a fire chief or assistant
fire chief.
Officers and employees of the Town of Lima shall be subject
to and abide by the following ethical standards of conduct:
A.
General prohibition on the use of municipal office for private gain.
A municipal officer or employee shall not use his or her official
position or office, or take or fail to take any action, in a manner
which he or she knows or has reason to know may result in a personal
financial benefit for any of the following persons:
(1)
The municipal officer or employee;
(2)
His or her outside employer or business;
(3)
A member of his or her household;
(4)
A customer or client;
(5)
A relative;
(6)
A person or entity with which the municipal officer or employee has
had a financial relationship within the previous 12 months; or
(7)
A person from whom the municipal officer or employee has received
election campaign contributions of more than $1,000 in the aggregate
during the previous 24 months.
B.
Recusal. A municipal officer or employee shall promptly recuse himself or herself from acting on a matter before the municipality when acting on the matter or failing to act on the matter may financially benefit any of the persons listed in Subsection A of this section.
C.
Misuse of municipal resources. No municipal officer or employee shall
request or permit the use of Town of Lima owned vehicles, equipment,
material or property for personal convenience or profit, except when
such services are available to the public generally or are provided
as a matter of municipal policy for the use of such officer or employee
in the conduct of official business. No employee shall engage in private
work or activity for himself or for another party during hours that
such employee is working for the Town.
D.
Gifts. A municipal officer or employee shall not directly or indirectly
solicit or accept any gift having a value of $75 or more, 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.
E.
Gratuities (tips). A municipal officer or employee shall not request
or accept anything from any person or entity other than the municipality
for doing his or her municipal job.
F.
Representation. A municipal officer or employee shall not represent
any person or entity in any matter that person or entity has that
is before the municipality, nor represent any person or entity in
any matter that involves the municipality.
G.
Appearances. A municipal officer or employee shall not appear before
any agency of the municipality, except on his or her own behalf or
on behalf of the municipality.
H.
Confidential information. A municipal officer or employee shall not
disclose confidential information or use it for any nonmunicipal purpose,
even after leaving municipal service.
I.
Obligation to citizens. No officer or employee of the Town of Lima
shall use or attempt to use his official position to secure unwarranted
privileges or exemptions for himself or others or grant any special
consideration, treatment or advantage to any citizen beyond that which
is available to every other citizen. An officer or employee of the
Town of Lima should not by his conduct give reasonable basis for the
impression that any person can unduly influence him or improperly
enjoy his favor in the performance of his official duties or that
he is affected by the kinship, rank, position or influence of any
party or person.
J.
Private employment. A municipal officer or employee shall not seek
or obtain any nonmunicipal employment with any person or entity he
or she is dealing with in his or her municipal job.
K.
Revolving door for high-level officials (lobbyist provision). For
one year after leaving municipal service, a former municipal officer
or employee shall not communicate with his or her former municipal
agency, except on his or her own behalf, and should never accept anything
of value to work on any particular matter that he or she personally
and substantially worked on while in municipal service.
L.
Avoiding conflicts. Municipal officers and employees may not knowingly
acquire, solicit, negotiate for, or accept any interest, employment,
or other thing of value which would put them in violation of this
code of ethics.
M.
Inducing others. A municipal officer or employee may not induce or
aid another officer or employee of the municipality to violate any
of the provisions of this code of ethics.
N.
Transactional disclosure. Whenever a municipal officer or employee
is required to recuse himself or herself under this code of ethics,
he or she:
(1)
Must promptly inform his or her superior, if any;
(2)
Must promptly file with the Municipal Clerk a signed statement disclosing
the nature and extent of the prohibited action or, if a member of
a board, must state that information upon the public record of the
board; and
(3)
Must immediately refrain from participating further in the matter.
O.
Lawyers and experts. A municipal officer or employee shall not be
a lawyer or expert against the municipality's interests in any
lawsuit.
P.
Coercive political solicitation. A municipal officer or employee
shall not use his or her municipal position to make threats or promises
for the purpose of trying to get anyone to do any political activity
or make a political contribution.
Q.
Political solicitation of vendors, contractors, and licensees. A
municipal officer or employee shall not ask any person or entity that
does or intends to do business with the municipality or that has or
is seeking a license, permit, grant or benefit from the municipality
or that has done business with the municipality during the previous
12 months to make any political contribution or engage in any political
activity.
R.
Solicitation of subordinates. A municipal officer or employee shall
not knowingly request or knowingly authorize anyone else to request
any subordinate of the officer or employee to purchase anything from,
or give or contribute anything to, any person or organization, including
any not-for-profit organization.
S.
Annual disclosure. All public officers and employees of the Town
of Lima shall file with the Town Board of Ethics an annual disclosure
and conflict of interest statement using the Town's prescribed
form. The form is found at Schedule A at the end of this chapter.
The Town Board of the Town of Lima, pursuant to the powers given
it by the Town Law, the General Municipal Law and Municipal Home Rule
Law, hereby authorizes the establishment of a Board of Ethics.
A.
The Town Board of the Town of Lima shall appoint five members to
the Board of Ethics. Members must be adult residents of the Town of
Lima. As authorized by Opinion 86-44 of the New York State Attorney
General and the provisions of Municipal Home Rule Law, the Town Board
specifically eliminates the requirement that any member of the Board
of Ethics is required to be a Town official or Town employee, although
such appointment is permitted, not prohibited, at the discretion of
the Town Board.
B.
The terms of service of the members of the Board of Ethics shall
initially be as follows: Upon establishment of the Board, one member
shall be appointed for a one-year term; a second member shall be appointed
for a two-year term; a third member appointed for a three-year term;
a fourth member appointed for a four-year term; and a fifth member
appointed for a five-year term. Thereafter, the term of each member,
when renewed, shall be five years. In this manner, the Town Board
seeks to ensure a continuous membership on the Ethics Board without
excessive turnover of membership in any one year. It is intended that
terms shall commence as of January 1 in each and every year, but that
appointment of members shall regularly take place at the annual organizational
meeting of the Town Board in January. When the Board of Ethics is
established following the adoption of this chapter, the original board
member appointments shall commence as of that date and run through
the end of that calendar year for the member appointed to a one-year
term, and to the end of the respective, successive calendar years
for all other appointees.
C.
No more than three members of the Ethics Board may be members of
the same political party. For purposes of this section, a "member"
of a political party shall mean a registered member, and a "political
party" shall mean a recognized political party.
D.
When a vacancy occurs in the membership of the Ethics Board, it shall
be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as the original
appointment no later than 60 days after the vacancy occurs.
E.
An Ethics Board member may be removed from the Board by the Supervisor
of the Town of Lima, upon the advice and consent of a majority of
the Town Board members. Grounds for removal of a member of the Ethics
Board will be substantial neglect of duty, gross misconduct in office,
inability to discharge the powers or duties of office, or violation
of this Code; removal shall be authorized after giving the party to
be removed written notice of the Board's intent to remove said
member and giving that party opportunity to respond to the Board's
notice.
The Board of Ethics is specifically empowered to render advisory
opinions to help ensure on behalf of the public that governmental
decisions are being made solely in the public interest.
A.
The Board of Ethics is directed to consider written requests made
by a Town official or employee concerning an issue or concern directly
involving that official or employee for the purposes of assisting
that official or employee in the proper furtherance of his or her
duties. In such instance, an advisory opinion of the Board of Ethics
will help to determine if the action or participation of an official
or employee in a course of conduct does or does not violate official
standards. The Board of Ethics shall also be directed to consider
written requests made by the Town Board to determine if the action
or participation of an official or employee in a course of conduct
does or does not violate ethics standards. The Board of Ethics shall
not be authorized to act upon an inquiry of the public at large.
B.
Opinions of the Board of Ethics shall be advisory and confidential.
All opinions shall be in writing. In no event shall the opinion or
the identity of the Town employee or official involved be disclosed
by the Board of Ethics to any party other than to the involved employee
or official and to the Town Board. If, upon consideration of the facts
presented to it, the Board of Ethics determines that no reasonable
basis exists for a finding that an action or course of conduct of
an official is unethical, then such Board shall immediately issue
a written statement to that effect.
Upon entering office or employment, every Town officer and employee
shall receive a copy of the Code of Ethics of the Town of Lima, together
with the annual disclosure form. Each officer and employee shall,
upon initially taking Town office or entering Town employment, sign
a copy of the Code of Ethics, acknowledging that said party has read
and understood it. All present officers and employees of the Town
shall receive and acknowledge a copy of the Code of Ethics within
30 days of its adoption. All officers and employees of the Town shall
sign and file with the Town Clerk the annual disclosure form made
a part of this code.
The Board of Ethics shall govern its actions and inquiries as
follows:
A.
The Board of Ethics shall only consider requests for advisory opinions
from officers and employees having the apparent conflict and from
the Town Board.
B.
The opinion request shall be in writing, clearly state the question
and provide relevant facts.
C.
The Board of Ethics may request additional information or require
that the individual making the inquiry appear before the Board to
clarify ambiguities or provide additional material.
D.
In considering inquiries, the Board should review the municipality's
Code of Ethics, consider opinions of the Attorney General and Comptroller,
and review relevant provisions of the General Municipal Law.
E.
The Board's advisory opinion should only answer the question
raised and only include facts that are relevant to its findings. Opinions
must be in writing.
F.
In considering the inquiry, the name of the individual seeking the
advisory opinion should be kept confidential, thus encouraging inquiries.
G.
The Board of Ethics shall have access to an attorney assigned to
it by the Town Board.
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 chapter may be fined, suspended or removed
from office or employment, as the case may be, in the manner provided
by law.
