The public judges its government by the way public officials and employees conduct themselves in the posts to which they are elected or appointed. The people have a right to expect that every public official and employee will conduct himself or herself in a manner that will tend to preserve public confidence in and respect for the government he or she represents. Such confidence and respect can best be promoted if every public official and employee, whether paid or unpaid, and whether elected or appointed, will uniformly treat all citizens with courtesy, impartiality, fairness and equality under the law and avoid both actual and potential conflicts between their private self-interest and the public interest.