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.
A.
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.
B.
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.
C.
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:
D.
No person listed in Subsection A 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.
E.
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.
F.
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.
G.
For purposes of the foregoing and the following, unless
the context otherwise requires, officer 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 fire
fighters or ambulance drivers with respect to their duties as fire
fighters or ambulance drivers.
H.
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 H of this section shall not apply if the interested officer:
(1)
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;
(2)
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
(3)
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.
I.
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.
J.
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.
K.
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.
L.
The City Clerk shall maintain separately from other records a ledger containing the information listed in Subsections A through K of this section 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:
(1)
Names of the contracted parties.
(2)
The nature of the interest of the officer in question.
(3)
Date the contract was approved by the governing body.
(4)
Amount of the contract.
(5)
Basic terms of the contract.
(a)
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.
M.
Any officer who knowingly violates the above prohibitions
shall be guilty of a Class III misdemeanor. Any officer who negligently
violates the above prohibitions shall be guilty of a Class V misdemeanor.
N.
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.
