Every officer and employee of the City or of any of its boards or departments shall promptly and fully account for and deliver to his or her successor or as otherwise directed by the Mayor and Council, all money, equipment and other property of the City which he or she has in his or her possession or has received from the City during his or her term of office or employment.
[Amended 1-21-2025 by Ord. No. 2044]
A. OFFICER PUBLIC OFFICIAL
For purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions shall apply:
Shall mean a member of any board or commission of the City which spends and administers its own funds, who is dealing with a contract made by such board or commission or any elected City official. "Officer" shall not mean volunteer firefighters or ambulance drivers with respect to their duties as firefighters or ambulance drivers.
As defined in Neb. R.R.S. § 49-1443, shall mean an official in the executive branch, an official in the legislative branch, or an elected or appointed official in the judicial branch of the state government or a political subdivision thereof; any elected or appointed member of a school board; and an elected or appointed member of a governing body of a state institution of higher education.
B.
A public official or public employee may employ, recommend the employment of, or supervise the employment of an immediate family member if he or she does not abuse his or her official position and makes a full disclosure on the record to the governing body or a written disclosure to the person in charge of keeping records for the governing body. No public official or public employee shall employ an immediate family member without first having made a reasonable solicitation and consideration of applications for such employment.
C.
This prohibition shall not apply to an immediate family member of a public official or public employee who was previously employed in a position subject to this prohibition prior to the election or appointment of the public official or public employee or was employed in a position subject to this prohibition prior to July 17, 1986. Any newly elected or appointed public official or employee shall make a full disclosure of any immediate family member employed in the position subject to this section, prior to or as soon as reasonably possible after the official date of taking office.
D.
No person shall offer or give to the following persons anything of value, including a gift, loan, contribution, reward or promise of future employment, based upon an agreement that the vote, official action or judgment of any public official, public employee or candidate would be influenced thereby:
E.
No person listed in Subsection B of this section shall solicit or accept anything of value, including a gift, loan, contribution, reward or promise of future employment based on an agreement that the vote, official action or judgment of any public, public employee or candidate would be influenced thereby.
F.
No public official or public employee shall use that person's public office or any confidential information received through the holding of a public office to obtain financial gain, other than compensation as provided by law for himself or herself, a member of his or her immediate family or a business with which the individual is associated.
G.
No public official or public employee shall use personnel, resources, property or funds under that individual's official care and duty, other than in accordance with prescribed constitutional, statutory and regulatory procedures, or use such items, other than compensation as provided by law, for personal financial gain.
H.
Public official financial benefit or detriment.
(1)
Any public official who would be required to take any action or make any decision in the discharge of his or her official duties that may cause financial benefit or detriment to him or her, a member of his or her immediate family, or a business with which he or she is associated, which is distinguishable from the effects of such action on the public generally or a broad segment of the public, shall take the following actions as soon as he or she is aware of such potential conflict or should reasonably be aware of such potential conflict, whichever is sooner:
(2)
The public official may apply to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission for an opinion as to whether the person has a conflict of interest.
(3)
This section does not prevent a public official from making or participating in the making of a governmental decision:
(a)
To the extent that the individual's participation is legally required for the action or decision to be made; or
(b)
If the potential conflict of interest is based on a business association and i) such business association is an association of the City, ii) the City is a member of such association, and iii) the business association exists only as the result of such public official holding office.
I.
City employee financial benefit or detriment.
(1)
Any employee of the City whose annual salary and benefits exceed $150,000 and who would be required to take any action or make any decision in the discharge of his or her official duties that may cause financial benefit or detriment to him or her, a member of his or her immediate family, or a business with which he or she is associated, which is distinguishable from the effects of such action on the public generally or a broad segment of the public, shall take the following actions as soon as he or she is aware of such potential conflict or should reasonably be aware of such potential conflict, whichever is sooner:
(2)
An employee described in Subsection I(1) of this section may apply to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission for an opinion as to whether he or she has a conflict of interest.
(3)
Subsection I does not prevent an employee described in Subsection I(1) of this section from making or participating in the making of a governmental decision to the extent that the employee's participation is legally required for the action or decision to be made. An employee who is acting pursuant to Subsection I shall report the occurrence as provided in Subsection I(1)(a) and(b) of this section.
J.
Officer contract interest.
(1)
No officer may have an interest in any contract to which his or her governing body, or anyone for its benefit, is a party. The existence of such an interest in any contract shall render the contract voidable by decree of a court of competent jurisdiction as to any person who entered into the contract or took assignment of such contract with actual knowledge of the prohibited conflict. The decree may provide for the reimbursement of any person for the reasonable value of all money, goods, material, labor or services furnished under the contract, to the extent that the governing body has been benefited thereby. The provisions of this Subsection J of this section shall not apply if the interested officer:
(a)
Makes a declaration on the record to the governing body responsible for approving the contract regarding the nature and extent of his or her interest prior to official consideration of the contract;
(b)
Does not vote on the matter of granting the contract, except that if the number of members on the governing body declaring an interest in the contract would prevent the body with all members present from securing a quorum on the issue, then all members may vote on the matter; and
(c)
Does not act for the governing body which is party to the contract as to inspection or performance under the contract in which he or she has an interest.
(2)
The receiving of deposits, cashing of checks and buying and selling of warrants and bonds of indebtedness to any such governing body by a financial institution shall not be considered a contract for purpose of this prohibition. The ownership of less than 5% of the outstanding shares of a corporation shall not constitute an interest within the meaning of this prohibition.
(3)
If an officer's parent, spouse or child is an employee of his or her governing body, the officer may vote on all issues of the contract which are generally applicable to all employees, or all employees within a classification, and do not single out his or her parent, spouse or child for special action.
(4)
Any contract entered into with an interested officer of the governing body shall be subject to applicable competitive bidding requirements and shall be fair and reasonable to the governing body.
(5)
The City Clerk shall maintain separately from other records a ledger containing the information listed in Subsection J(5)(a) through (e) of this subsection about every contract entered into by the governing body in which an officer of the body has an interest and for which disclosure has been made. Such information shall be kept in a ledger for five years from the date of the officer's last day in office and shall include:
(a)
Names of the contracted parties.
(b)
The nature of the interest of the officer in question.
(c)
Date the contract was approved by the governing body.
(d)
Amount of the contract.
(e)
Basic terms of the contract.
[1]
The information supplied relative to the contract shall be provided no later than 10 days after the contract has been signed by both parties. The ledger kept pursuant to this section shall be available for public inspection during the normal working hours of the office in which it is kept.
K.
Any employee as described in this section who knowingly violates the above prohibitions shall be guilty of a Class III misdemeanor. Any employee as described in this section who negligently violates the above prohibitions shall be guilty of a Class V misdemeanor.
L.
Notwithstanding the above prohibitions, the City Council may prohibit contracts over a specific dollar amount in which an officer of the City may have an interest, and the City may exempt the above prohibition from contracts involving $100 in which an officer of the City may have an interest.
Any person may make a charge of misconduct in office against any City official, which charge shall be in writing and under oath and shall specify the nature of the misconduct claimed, which charge shall be filed with the City Clerk. Such charge shall be fully read at the next regular meeting of the City Council or a special meeting called for that purpose, and if so ordered by the Council, a copy of such charge certified by the City Clerk, shall be served upon the officer charged, together with a notice that he or she shall show cause at a meeting of the Council why he or she should not be removed from office. Any official found guilty of misconduct after a proper hearing, if one is requested, shall be removed from office in the manner prescribed by law.