[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of
the City of Burlington 1-5-1988 by Ord. No. 1203(25) as § 1.34
of the 1988 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this Code of Ethics is to enable
public officials and employees, both appointive and elective, to conduct
themselves in a manner that shall preserve public confidence in and
respect for the government of the City and to treat all citizens with
courtesy, impartiality, fairness and equality under the law.
The terms of this code are defined as follows:
Any interest arising from blood or marriage relationships
or from close business or political association, whether or not any
financial interest is involved.
[Amended 11-18-2003 by Ord. No. 1740(20)]
Any person elected or appointed to, or employed or retained
by, any public office or public body of the City, whether paid or
unpaid and whether part time or full time.
Any agency, authority, board, body, commission, committee,
department or office of the City.
[Amended 11-18-2003 by Ord. No. 1740(20)]
A.
Impartiality. No official or employee shall request,
use or permit the use of any consideration, treatment, advantage or
favor beyond that which it is the general practice to grant or make
available to the public at large.
B.
Use of public property. No official or employee shall
request, use or permit the use of any publicly owned or publicly supported
property, vehicle, equipment, material, labor or service for the personal
convenience or the private advantage of himself or any other person.
This rule shall not be deemed to prohibit an official or employee
from requesting, using or permitting the use of such publicly owned
or publicly supplied property, vehicle, equipment, material, labor
or service which it is the general practice to make available to the
public at large or which is provided as a matter of stated policy
for the use of officials and employees in the conduct of official
business or which is provided for elsewhere in a resolution or ordinance
of the Common Council.
A.
Financial or personal interest. No official or employee,
either for himself or on behalf of any other person, shall have any
financial or personal interest in any business or transaction with
any public body in the City until he shall first make full public
disclosure of the nature and extent of such interest.
B.
Disclosure and disqualification. Whenever the performance
of his official duties shall require any official or employee to deliberate
and vote on any matter involving his financial or personal interest,
he shall publicly disclose the nature and extent of such interest
and disqualify himself from participating in the deliberations as
well as in the voting. Elected officials and members of the Plan Commission
shall disclose any legal or equitable interest which they might have
in any real estate subject to the deliberation of the Commission.
C.
Incompatible employment. No official or employee shall
engage in private employment with or render service for any private
person who has business transactions with any public body of the City
unless he shall make full public disclosure of the nature and extent
of such employment or services.
D.
Representation of private persons. No official or
employee shall use or attempt to use his official position to secure
special privileges or exemptions for himself or others except as may
otherwise be provided by law.
E.
Gifts and favors. No official or employee shall accept
any gift, whether in the form of money, thing, favor, loan or promise,
that would not be offered or given to him if he were not an official
or employee.
F.
Confidential information. No official or employee
shall, without the prior formal authorization of the public body having
jurisdiction, disclose any confidential information concerning any
other official or employee or any other person or any property or
governmental affairs of the City.
Upon the sworn complaint of any person alleging
facts which, if true, shall constitute improper conduct under the
provisions of this chapter, the Common Council shall conduct a public
hearing in accordance with all common law requirements of due process
and, in written findings of fact and conclusions based thereon, make
a determination concerning the propriety of conduct of the subject
official or employee or, if appropriate, refer the matter to other
proper City authority. If a member of the Common Council shall be
a person against whom a sworn complaint has been filed, such member
of the Common Council shall disqualify himself from the hearing as
a Common Council member during the hearing or hearings.
If any provision of this Code of Ethics is less
restrictive than any other provision of this Code relating to the
conduct of public officials and employees, the stricter provisions
shall prevail.
