City of Springfield, MA Article II Conflicts of Interest

§ 38-3 Statement of policy.

The provisions of this article supplement the conflict of interest provisions of the State Ethics Law. All City employees shall comply with the requirements of the State Ethics Law, including, but not limited to, Sections 2, 3, 17 through 20, and 23 of the State Ethics Law, in addition to the provisions of this article. Note: Persons who are not considered City employees under this chapter may still be considered a "municipal employee" under the State Ethics Law, MGL c. 268A.

§ 38-4 Improper influence.

No City official or City employee shall make or participate in making any decision on any issue in which he or she has an economic interest. No City official or City employee shall in any way attempt to use his or her position to influence any City governmental decision or action in which he or she has an economic interest distinguishable from its effect on the public generally or, with respect to the City Council, any economic interest distinguishable from its effect on all Councilors generally. This provision shall not prohibit the Mayor and City Council from considering, voting on and authorizing their own compensation.

§ 38-5 Surrender of illegal gifts.

Any gift given in violation of the provisions of Chapter 268A of the General Laws shall be surrendered to the Treasurer-Collector, who shall add the gift to the inventory of City property. Surrender shall occur after such gift is no longer considered to be evidence in any administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding.

§ 38-6 Use of City-owned property.

No City official, City employee or City contractor shall engage in or permit the unauthorized use of City-owned property or any other property being held by the City for public purposes.

§ 38-7 Use or disclosure of confidential information.

A. No current or former City employee shall knowingly, or with reason to know, engage in any business or professional activity which will require him/her to disclose confidential information which he/she has gained by reason of his/her official position or authority.

B. No current or former City official or City employee shall use or disclose, other than in the performance of his or her official duties and responsibilities, or as may be required by law, confidential information gained in the course of, or by reason of, his or her position or employment.

C. For purposes of this section, "confidential information" means any information that is not made available to the general public on request or could not be obtained pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Act, Chapter 66 of the General Laws, as amended.

§ 38-8 Interest in City business.

A. No City official or City employee or member of his or her immediate family shall have an economic interest, directly or indirectly, in work or business of the City, or in the sale to the City of any property or service when consideration for the contract, work, business or sale is paid with funds belonging to or administered by the City. Compensation for property taken pursuant to the City's eminent domain power shall not constitute a financial interest within the meaning of this section. Unless sold pursuant to a process of competitive bidding following public notice, no City official or City employee shall have a financial interest in the purchase of any property that belongs to the City or a City agency, or is sold for taxes or assessments, or is sold by virtue of legal process at the suit of the City. No City official or City employee nor their spouse shall engage in a transaction described in this section, unless the matter is wholly unrelated to the employee's or official's City duties and responsibilities.

B. To the degree allowed under the State Ethics Law (MGL c. 268A), it shall not be a violation of this section if:

(1) The work, business or sale of a property or services is wholly unrelated to the duties and responsibilities of the City employee and the City employee discloses such interest to the individual responsible for his/her appointment or contract of hire; or, in the case of an elected official, files a disclosure with the City Clerk;

(2) A City employee acting in good faith discovers an actual or prospective violation of this section and, within 30 days, files a disclosure of such economic interest with the City Clerk and terminates or disposes of the interest; or

(3) The economic interest constitutes compensation for property taken pursuant to the City's eminent domain power.

§ 38-9 Conferring benefits to others; employment of immediate family.

A. No City official or City employee may appoint or advocate for employment, in any City agency in which said official or employee serves, or over which he/she exercises authority, supervision, or control, any person:

(1) Who is a relative of said official or employee; or

(2) In exchange for or in consideration of the employment of any of said City official's or City employee's relatives by any other City official or City employee.

B. No City official or City employee shall exercise contract management authority over a contract involving any relative of the City official or City employee.

C. No City official or City employee shall use or permit the use of his/her position to assist any relative in securing employment or contracts with persons over whom the City official or City employee exercises contract management authority. The employment of or contracting with a relative of such a City official or City employee by such a person within six months prior to, during the term of, or six months subsequent to the period of a City contract shall be evidence that said employment or contract was obtained in violation of this article.

§ 38-10 Prohibited acts by Mayor or members of City Council.

Neither the Mayor nor members of the City Council shall make loans, gifts of value equal to or exceeding $50, offers of employment or future employment, except within the discharge of their official capacities, or of business or investment opportunities to heads of City agencies, to the City Solicitor and Assistant City Solicitors or to members of boards or commissions involved in the granting of variances, permits, licenses or other such discretionary or adjudicatory functions.

§ 38-11 Prohibited acts by School Committee members.

School Committee members shall not make loans, gifts of value equal to or exceeding $50, offers of employment or future employment, except within the discharge of their official capacities, or of business or investment opportunities to the Superintendent, Assistant or Deputy Superintendents, the Business Manager, the Personnel Director, the Principals of the Springfield public schools, or consultants or legal advisers contracted to the School Department.

§ 38-12 Gifts among City employees.

A. No City employee shall knowingly and willfully offer or give to another City employee or member of such employee's immediate family, and no City employee or member of such employee's immediate family shall knowingly and willfully solicit or accept from another City employee, gifts with an aggregate value of $50 or more in a calendar year.

B. This section shall not apply to gifts given for a wholly social purpose.

§ 38-13 Income of City Councilors, School Committee members and commission members from individuals and entities which appear before them; duty to disclose.

When any individual or entity appears before the City Council, the City School Committee, and/or any City board or commission which has the authority to grant or recommend any license, permit, certificate, variance, site plan approval, or any other permission or approvals and such individual or entity has, within the preceding five years, paid compensation to a City Councilor, City School Committee member or board or commission member, or to any entity or person from which such City Councilor, City School Committee member or board or commission member has derived income, the City Councilor, School Committee member or board or commission member who has received such compensation, directly or indirectly, shall, prior to each appearance of such individual or entity before the City Council, School Committee or City board or commission, publicly disclose orally and in writing that he/she has received such compensation, directly or indirectly. Such written disclosure shall be filed with the City Clerk, and in a form prescribed and provided by the City Clerk, which shall be the same as, or similar to, the State Ethics Law disclosures pursuant to MGL c. 268A, § 23(b)(3). No City Councilor, School Committee member or board or commission member may take any official action on matters which would foreseeably affect his/her own financial interests, or the financial interests of his/her immediate family members, partners, employers (other than the municipality), those with whom he/she is negotiating or has an arrangement concerning prospective employment, or organizations for which he serves as an officer, director, partner or trustee. When such matters come before City Councilors or School Committee members or board or commission members, they shall recuse themselves by departing the room wherein any discussion relating to such matters is to take place. The recused City Councilor, City School Committee member and/or City commission member shall not return until all such discussions relating in any way to such matters have been completed.