[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Prescott
as Title 2, Ch. 5, of the former City Code. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
A.
The proper operation of democratic government requires that public
officials and employees be independent, impartial and responsible
to the people; that government decisions and policy be made in proper
channels of the government structure; that public office not be used
for personal gain; and that the public have confidence in the integrity
of its government. In recognition of these goals, there is hereby
established in this chapter a Code of Ethics for all City of Prescott
officials and employees, whether elected or appointed, paid or unpaid,
including members of boards, committees and commissions of the City,
as well as any individuals who are candidates for elective office
as soon as such individuals file nomination papers with the City.
B.
The purpose of this Ethics Code is to establish guidelines for ethical
standards of conduct for all such officials and employees by setting
forth those acts or actions that are incompatible with the best interests
of the City of Prescott and by directing disclosure by such officials
and employees of private financial or other interests in matters affecting
the City. The Common Council believes that a Code of Ethics for the
guidance of elected and appointed officials and employees will help
them avoid conflicts between their personal interests and their public
responsibilities, will improve standards of public service and will
promote and strengthen the faith and confidence of the citizens of
this City in their elected and appointed officials and employees.
The Common Council hereby reaffirms that each elected and appointed
City official and employee holds his or her position as a public trust,
and any intentional effort to realize substantial personal gain through
official conduct is a violation of that trust. The provisions and
purpose of this Ethics Code and such rules and regulations as may
be established are hereby declared to be in the best interests of
the City of Prescott.
The following definitions shall be applicable in this chapter:
Any gift, favor, loan, service or promise of future employment,
but does not include reasonable fees and honorariums, or the exchange
of seasonal, anniversary or customary gifts among relatives and friends.
Any corporation, partnership, proprietorship, firm, enterprise,
franchise, association, organization, self-employed individual or
any other legal entity which engages in profit-making activities.
Any interest which shall yield, directly or indirectly, a
monetary or other material benefit to the officer or employee or to
any person employing or retaining the services of the officer or employee.
The following specific blood or marriage relationships:
Any person excluded from the definition of a public official
who is employed by the City.
Those persons serving in statutory elected or appointed offices
provided for in Chapter 62 of the Wisconsin Statutes, and all members
appointed to boards, committees and commissions established or appointed
by the Mayor and/or Common Council pursuant to this Code of Ordinances,
whether paid or unpaid.
Owning or controlling, directly or indirectly, at least 10%
or $5,000 of the outstanding stock of any business.
Any full- or part-time employee of the City.
There are certain provisions of the Wisconsin Statutes which
should, while not set forth herein, be considered an integral part
of any Code of Ethics. Accordingly, the provisions of the following
sections of the Wisconsin Statutes, as from time to time amended,
are made a part of this Code of Ethics and shall apply to public officials
and employees whenever applicable:
Public officials and employees are agents of public purpose
and hold office for the benefit of the public. They are bound to uphold
the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this
state and carry out impartially the laws of the nation, state and
municipality, to observe in their official acts the highest standards
of morality and to discharge faithfully the duties of their office
regardless of personal considerations, recognizing that the public
interest must be their prime concern. Their conduct in both their
official and private affairs should be above reproach so as to foster
respect for government.
A.
Officials and employees should adhere to the rules of work and performance
established as the standard for their positions by the appropriate
authority.
B.
Officials and employees should not exceed their authority or breach
the law or ask others to do so, and they should work in full cooperation
with other public officials and employees unless prohibited from so
doing by law or by officially recognized confidentiality of their
work.
C.
Members of the City staff are expected to follow their appropriate
professional code of ethics.
A.
Use of public property. No official or employee shall use or permit
the unauthorized use of City-owned vehicles, equipment, materials
or property for personal convenience or profit, except when such services
are available to the public generally or are provided as City policy
for the use of such official or employee in the conduct of official
business, as authorized by the Common Council or authorized board,
commission or committee.
B.
Use of City stationery. No official or employee shall use, or permit
the unauthorized use of, City stationery for personal use.
C.
Obligations to citizens. No official or employee shall grant any
special consideration, treatment or advantage to any citizen beyond
that which is available to every other citizen. No official or employee
shall use or attempt to use his or her position with the City to secure
any advantage, preference or gain, over and above his rightful remuneration
and benefits, for himself or for a member of his or her immediate
family.
D.
Political contributions. No official shall personally solicit from
any City employee, other than an elected official, a contribution
to a political campaign committee for which the person subject to
this chapter is a candidate or treasurer.
A.
Financial and personal interest prohibited.
(1)
No official or employee of the City, whether paid or unpaid, shall
engage in any business or transaction or shall act in regard to financial
or other personal interest, direct or indirect, which is incompatible
with the proper discharge of official duties in the public interest
contrary to the provisions of this chapter or which would tend to
impair independence of judgment or action in the performance of official
duties.
(2)
Any member of the Common Council who has a financial interest or
personal interest in any proposed legislation before the Common Council
shall disclose on the records of the Common Council the nature and
extent of such interest; such official shall not participate in debate
or vote for adoption or defeat of such legislation. If the matter
before the Council involves a member's personal interest with persons
involved, the member may participate in debate or discussion and vote
on the matter following disclosure, unless an ordinance or contract
is involved; if an ordinance or contract is involved, such official
shall not participate in debate or discussion and vote on the matter.
(3)
Any nonelected official who has a financial interest or personal
interest in any proposed legislative action of the Common Council
or any board, commission or committee upon which the official has
any influence or input or of which the official is a member that is
to make a recommendation or decision upon any item which is the subject
of the proposed legislative action shall disclose on the records of
the Common Council or the appropriate board, commission or committee
the nature and extent of such interest. Such official shall not participate
in debate or discussion or vote for adoption or defeat of such legislation.
(4)
Any City employee who has a financial interest or personal interest
in any proposed legislative action of the Common Council or any board,
commission or committee upon which the employee has any influence
or input, or of which the employee is a member, that is to make a
recommendation or decision upon any item which is the subject of the
proposed legislative action shall disclose on the records of the Common
Council or the appropriate board, commission or committee the nature
and extent of such interest.
B.
Disclosure of confidential information. No official or employee shall,
without proper legal authorization, disclose confidential information
concerning the property, government or affairs of the City, nor shall
such information be used to advance the financial or other private
interests of the official or employee or others.
C.
Gifts and favors.
(1)
No official or employee, personally or through a member of his immediate
family, may solicit or accept, either directly or indirectly, from
any person or organization, money or anything of value if it could
be expected to influence the employee's official actions or judgments
or be considered a reward for any action or inaction on the part of
the official or employee.
(2)
No official or employee personally, or through a member of his immediate
family, shall accept any gift, whether in the form of money, service,
loan, thing or promise, from any person which could reasonably be
expected to impair his independence of judgment or action in the performance
of his duties or grant in the discharge of his duties any improper
favor, service or thing of value. However, it is not a conflict of
interest for any public official or employee to receive hospitality
that is unsolicited and unrelated to government business, such as
a meal, and that is not intended to influence the official.
(3)
An official or employee is not to accept hospitality if, after consideration
of the surrounding circumstances, it could reasonably be concluded
that such hospitality would not be extended were it not for the fact
that the guest, or a member of the guest's immediate family,
was a City official or employee. Participation in celebrations, grand
openings, open houses, informational meetings and similar events is
excluded from this prohibition. This subsection further shall not
be construed to prevent candidates for elective office from accepting
hospitality, as a properly reported political contribution, from citizens
for the purpose of supporting the candidate's campaign. (The
Government Accountability Board has interpreted "hospitality" as it
applies to state officials as including meals, beverages and lodging
which a person offers at his residence and would have been offered
if the recipient was not an official.)[1]
(4)
Gifts received by an official or employee or his immediate family
under unusual circumstances shall be referred to the Common Council
within 10 days of receipt for recommended disposition. Any person
subject to this chapter who becomes aware that he is or has been offered
any gift, the acceptance of which would constitute a violation of
this subsection, shall, within 10 days, disclose the details surrounding
said offer to the Common Council. Failure to comply with this reporting
requirement shall constitute an offense under this chapter.
D.
Representing private interests before City agencies or courts.
(1)
Nonelected City officials and employees shall not appear on behalf
of any private person (other than himself or herself or his or her
spouse or minor children) before any City agency, board, commission
or the Common Council if the official or employee or any board, commission
or committee of which the official or employee is a member has any
jurisdiction, discretion or control over the matter which is the subject
of such representation.
(2)
Elected City officials may appear before City agencies on behalf of constituents in the course of their duties as representatives of the electorate or in the performance of public or civic obligations. However, the disclosure requirements of Subsection A above shall be applicable to such appearances.
E.
Ad hoc committee exceptions. No violation of the conflict of interest
restrictions of this section shall exist, however, where an individual
serves on a special ad hoc committee charged with the narrow responsibility
of addressing a specific issue or topic in which that individual,
or the employer or a client of that individual, has an interest so
long as the individual discloses to the Common Council that such interest
exists.
F.
Contracts with the City. No City official or employee who, in his
capacity as such officer or employee, participates in the mailing
of a contract in which he has a private pecuniary interest, direct
or indirect, or performs in regard to that contract some function
requiring the exercise of discretion on his part shall enter into
any contract with the City unless, within the confines of § 946.13,
Wis. Stats., the contract is awarded through a process of public notice
and competitive bidding or the Common Council waives the requirement
of this subsection after determining that it is in the best interest
of the City to do so. The provisions of this subsection shall not
apply to the designation of a public depository of public funds.
G.
Campaign contributions. Campaign contributions shall be reported
by all candidates for City office in strict conformity with the provisions
of the Wisconsin Statutes. Any campaign contribution tendered to or
accepted by a candidate subsequent to the final statutory report shall
be reported to the Government Accountability Board.[2]
When an official or employee has doubt as to the applicability
of a provision of this Ethics Code to a particular situation or definition
of terms used in this chapter, he should apply to the City Attorney
for an advisory opinion and will be guided by that opinion when given.
The official or employee shall have the opportunity to present his
interpretation of the facts at issue and of the applicable provisions
of this chapter before such advisory decision is made. This chapter
shall be operative in all instances covered by its provisions except
when superseded by an applicable statutory provision and statutory
action is mandatory, or when the application of a statutory provision
is discretionary but determined by the City Attorney to be more appropriate
or desirable. Advisory requests and opinions shall be kept confidential,
except when disclosure is authorized by the requestor, in which case
the request and opinion may be made public.
A.
This section governs the proposed hiring of individuals for full-time or part-time work as City employees who are members of the immediate family of City employees or elected officials. "Immediate family" includes those relatives by blood or marriage defined in § 75-2 as personal interest.
B.
Hiring an immediate family member of any current City employee or
elected City official will be considered only if that individual has
the knowledge and skills, experience or other job-related qualifications
that warrant consideration for the position. A person cannot be hired
for either full-time or part-time employment in a position immediately
supervised by a member of that person's immediate family.
C.
This section does not apply to nonelected officials who are asked
to accept appointment as members of a City board, commission or committee;
nonelected officials, however, will be expected to disqualify themselves
from participation in matters under consideration which may affect
the hiring, retention, classification or compensation of their immediate
family if currently employed or being considered for employment by
the City.
In the event an employee, covered under a collective bargaining
agreement, is allegedly involved in an Ethics Code violation, the
terms and conditions set forth in the applicable collective bargaining
agreement shall prevail in the administration and interpretation of
this chapter.
A.
A determination that a public official's or public employee's
actions constitute improper conduct under the provisions of this chapter
may constitute a cause for removal from office, termination of employment,
suspension, reprimand, removal from committee assignment, or other
appropriate disciplinary action. As an alternative or in addition
to sanctions imposed herein, any individual violating the Ethics Code
shall be subject to a nonreimbursable forfeiture as determined by
the City of Prescott Common Council. The forfeiture shall not be less
than $100 nor more than $1,000.[1]
B.
Sanctions, including any disciplinary action, that may affect employees
covered under a labor agreement will be consistent with the terms
and conditions set forth in the labor agreement.
C.
Sanctions, including any disciplinary action, that may affect employees
covered by the jurisdiction of the Board of Police Commissioners will
be consistent with both applicable statutes of the Board of Police
Commissioners and Board rules and regulations.
The City of Prescott Employee Handbook is adopted and incorporated
herein by reference.
