[Ord. No. 10516, 9-20-2018; Ord. No. 10681, 9-3-2020; Ord. No. 10776, 10-6-2022; Ord. No. 10803, 4-20-2023]
a. 
All employees of the City must observe high standards of business and personal ethics performing their duties and responsibilities and fraud in any form will not be tolerated. This Policy is designed to enable all employees of the City to raise any complaint of unethical, fraudulent or unlawful conduct in an appropriate manner and to protect any employee of the City raising such a good faith complaint from any retaliatory action.
b. 
By way of example, conduct which is prohibited by this Policy and complaints which should be reported pursuant to this Policy include without limitation:
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Embezzlement, misappropriation or use of City funds or property for any illegal, improper or unethical purpose;
•
Forging, altering, tampering with or destroying any City accounting, payroll or audit-related records or documents, such as checks, timesheets, contractor agreements, purchase orders or any other financial documents of the City, whether in hard copy or electronically stored, except as otherwise permitted or required in accordance with record retention policies, as applicable;
•
Any violation of the City's Conflict of Interest restrictions in the City Charter and Code of Ordinances;
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Fraud or deliberate error in the preparation, evaluation, review or audit of any of the City's budget, accounting or financial statements or any other purposeful conduct resulting in inaccurate financial reporting of any sort;
•
Obtaining any benefit through deception or fraudulent activity, such as receiving compensation for hours not worked or services not performed;
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Unauthorized use of City logos or trademarks; and
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Deficiency and/or non-compliance with the City's internal accounting controls.
c. 
This Policy is not designed to address financial or business decisions taken by the City or to provide a complaint procedure for matters covered by other specific policies in these Personnel Rules and Regulations, such as under the City's Equal Employment Opportunity, Anti-Harassment and Non-Discrimination Policy, Workplace Violence Policy or Policy Regarding Reasonable Accommodations for Qualified Individuals with a Disability.
[Ord. No. 10516, 9-20-2018; Ord. No. 10776, 10-6-2022; Ord. No. 10803, 4-20-2023]
This Policy is designed to offer protection to any employee who discloses a complaint, provided the disclosure is made in good faith. It is a violation of this Policy for any Supervisor, Manager, Department Head or other employee of the City to retaliate against any City employee who makes a complaint pursuant to this Policy. Prohibited retaliation against any employee "whistle-blower" under this Policy includes disciplining, demoting or suspending the employee or threatening to do so, terminating or threatening to terminate the employee or in any other manner intimidating the employee as a form of retaliation for any complaint made pursuant to this Policy. Any City employee engaging in retaliatory conduct will be subject to disciplinary action by the City, which may include termination of employment.
[Ord. No. 10516, 9-20-2018; Ord. No. 10776, 10-6-2022; Ord. No. 10803, 4-20-2023]
The City will treat all good faith complaints under this Policy in a confidential and sensitive manner to the extent feasible consistent with the City's obligation to fully investigate any complaint filed or made under this Policy. A report of a complaint will only be disclosed to those persons who have a need to know and in order to properly conduct an investigation of the complaint. Any report or complaint shall be kept in a file that is separate from the personnel file of the employee making the complaint and the person or persons to whom it relates, although any disciplinary action that may be issued due to a complaint under this Policy shall be part of the personnel file of the disciplined employee.
[Ord. No. 10516, 9-20-2018; Ord. No. 10776, 10-6-2022; Ord. No. 10803, 4-20-2023]
Any complaint by a City employee pursuant to this Policy must be made in writing to the Assistant Chief Administrative Officer, the Chief Administrative Officer or the Audit Committee of the City, with all factual details supporting any such complaint. The complaint should be made immediately upon discovery of any facts showing unethical, fraudulent or unlawful conduct as described in this Policy. Any employee may also submit a complaint anonymously under this Policy. The City's Chief Administrative Officer, Assistant Chief Administrative Officer and/or the City's Audit Committee shall be responsible for investigating any such complaint. The City's Chief Administrative Officer shall determine who shall investigate any such complaint depending upon the nature of the complaint, unless the complaint is against the City's Chief Administrative Officer, in which event the City's Audit Committee shall investigate any such complaint. Any such complaint shall be investigated in consultation with legal counsel or other expert resources deemed necessary to conduct a full and complete investigation of the allegations of such complaint, and making decisions for appropriate corrective action, as applicable, to be implemented. The investigative action by the Chief Administrative Officer, Assistant Chief Administrative Officer or Audit Committee may include referral fully or in part to a law enforcement agency or City law enforcement personnel for appropriate investigation of any suspected criminal activity. Unless the employee has submitted or made a complaint anonymously under this Policy, the complainant will be informed of the final outcome of the City's investigation as deemed appropriate under the circumstances.
[Ord. No. 10516, 9-20-2018; Ord. No. 10776, 10-6-2022; Ord. No. 10803, 4-20-2023]
If an employee makes an allegation in good faith under this Policy, which is not substantiated or confirmed by a subsequent investigation, no action will be taken against the individual making the complaint. However, if an employee makes a complaint maliciously without any reasonable factual foundation against another employee of the City, the employee making such complaint may be subject to discipline by the City as deemed appropriate.