This code shall be known as the "Ethics Code
of the Town of Chester" and shall be hereinafter referred to as "the
code."
It is the policy of the Town of Chester and
purpose of this chapter to establish standards and guidelines for
ethical conduct of officials and employees. Though assurance of good
conduct will rest primarily upon personal integrity and community
vigilance, these provisions of standards are designed to establish
parameters within which the public may have confidence that decisions
of local government are arrived at with impartiality and free of conflicts
of interest. It is the purpose of this chapter to protect officials
and employees from unwarranted attacks upon their integrity while
raising public confidence by defining courses of conduct contrary
to the public interest and thereby separating real from inconsequential
conflict recognizing that local government attracting and retaining
competent persons in the public service should not require divestiture
of only those proprietary interests which would appear to bear upon
independence of judgment and/or the appearance of bias.
The following words and phrases, when used in
this code, shall have, unless the context clearly states otherwise,
the meanings given to them in this section:
ABUSE OF AUTHORITY
An arbitrary or capricious exercise of power of an official
or employee that adversely affects the rights of any person or that
results in personal gain or advantage to himself or herself or to
preferred other persons.
APPOINTED OFFICIAL
A.
An individual holding an office named in the
code or in any other ordinance of this Town, to which he is named
by the Town Board or any elected officer of the Town whether that
individual serves full-time or part-time, whether or not he receives
compensation from the Town for his/her services and whether or not
h/she holds a single-named office or is one of several individuals
serving on a board, commission or authority.
B.
An individual employed by the Town on a full-time
or part-time basis, exercising supervisory authority over any other
municipal employee and/or performing nonministerial action in connection
with municipal affairs.
BUSINESS
Any corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, firm,
enterprise, franchise, association, organization, self-employed individual,
holding company, joint-stock company, receivership, trust or any legal
entity organized for profit.
BUSINESS DEALING WITH THE TOWN
Any contract, service, work or business with, any sale, renting
or other disposition to, any purchase, leasing or other acquisition
from and any grant, license, permit or other privilege from the Town
or any municipal board or commission and any performance of or litigation
with respect to any of the foregoing.
BUSINESS WITH WHICH HE OR SHE IS ASSOCIATED
Any business in which the person or a member of the person's
family is a director, officer, owner, employee or holder of stock
or percentage ownership exceeding 5% of the equity at fair market
value of the business or more than 5% of the assets of the economic
interests in indebtedness.
CANDIDATE or CANDIDATES
Any individual, individuals or slate of individuals seeking
any office which is filled by the vote of the electorate.
COMPENSATION
Any thing of economic value, however designated, which is
paid, granted, given, donated or transferred or to be paid, loaned,
granted, given, donated or transferred for personal services to any
person, official or employee of the Town.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Any situation in which a public official or public employee
is in a position where his or her vote or decision can result in a
financial benefit to himself or herself or a member of his or her
immediate family other than those benefits which may accrue to the
public generally.
ETHICS BOARD
A duly appointed and qualified Ethics Board of the Town of
Chester, comprised of five individuals who are not regular employees
or elected officials of the Town and who shall possess qualifications
necessary for carrying out their duties as members of the Ethics Board
and who shall be retained by the Town to conduct investigations, swear
witnesses, take testimony and make appropriate determinations as to
whether or not violations of this chapter have been made.
ELECTED OFFICE
The office of Supervisor, Town Clerk, Highway Superintendent,
Receiver of Taxes and members of the Town Board.
FAMILY MEMBER
Any spouse, child, grandchild, parent, grandparent, sibling,
in-law, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, ex-spouse, stepparent, stepchild,
half brother, half sister or the spouse of any such relative or person.
GIFT
A.
Anything which is received without consideration
of equal or greater value. "Gift" shall not include a political contribution
otherwise reported as required by law or a commercially reasonable
loan made in the ordinary course of business. "Gift" shall include,
but not be limited to, any payment, favor, gratuity, thing of value,
service or services, promise, discount, admission, performance of
any act or series of acts, entertainment, reward, loan which is not
commercially reasonable and made in the ordinary course of business
or promise of any of the preceding.
B.
"Gift" shall not include:
(1)
A political contribution reported as permitted
by law;
(2)
A commercially reasonable loan made in the ordinary
course of business; or
(3)
A gift received from a relative.
INCOME
Any money or thing of value received or to be received as
a claim on future services, whether in the form of a fee, salary,
expense, allowance, forbearance, forgiveness, interest, dividend,
royalty, rent, capital gain or any other form of recompense or any
combination thereof.
PERSON
Any individual, union, association, committee, club or other
organization or group of persons.
PUBLIC EMPLOYEE
Any individual employed by the Town of Chester, with the
exception of public officials.
PUBLIC OFFICE
Any elected or appointed office or position of the Town of
Chester.
RELATIVE
A member of an individual's immediate family and also that
individual's father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, son, daughter
or sibling, whether by blood, adoption or marriage, the latter including,
for example, stepparents, stepchildren, half brothers and half sisters.
TOWN
The Town of Chester.
Where voting conflicts are not otherwise addressed
by the Constitution of New York or by any law, rule, regulation, order
or ordinance, the following procedure shall be employed:
A. Any public official or public employee who in the
discharge of his official duties would be required to vote on a matter
that would result in a conflict of interests shall abstain from voting
and, prior to the vote being taken, publicly announce and disclose
the nature of his interests as a public record in a written memorandum
filed with the person responsible for recording the minutes of the
meeting at which the vote is taken.
B. The provisions of this section shall not apply to
cases where such officer is an employee of the person, firm or corporation
involved in a municipal contract or municipal matter in a capacity
with no possible influence on the transaction and in which such person
cannot possibly be benefitted thereby, either financially or in any
other material matter.
[Added 4-11-2012 by L.L. No. 1-2012]
A. No relative
of any Town elected official, Town department head or other Town supervisor
shall be permitted to obtain employment with the Town. There shall
be four exceptions to this rule:
(1) In
the event the relative is employed by the Town prior to the Town elected
official, Town department head or other Town supervisor taking office
or position of authority.
(2) In
the event an individual is employed by the Town prior to said individual
becoming a relative of any Town elected official, Town department
head or other Town supervisor.
(3) In
the event an individual is employed by the Town to fill a position
that is deemed seasonal or temporary employment.
(4) For
good cause shown, as determined by the Board of Ethics. "Good cause"
shall be found by a showing that the Town would either suffer hardship
as a result of the prohibition, there is a lack of qualified applicants
to fill the specific job title, or other similar set of circumstances.
B. Relative
defined. Relatives are defined as parent, spouse, child, sibling,
grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, first or second
cousin, in-law or step-relative, domestic partner, cohabitant, or
a person with whom a significant committed relationship exists.
C. Policy
implementation. Personnel employed prior to the effective date of
this section will not be affected by this policy.