No member of Council, the Mayor or other public official or public employee of the Village, whether paid or unpaid, shall engage in any business or transaction or have a financial or personal interest, direct or indirect, which is incompatible with the proper discharge of his or her official duties in the public interest or which would tend to impair his or her independence of judgment or action in the performance of his or her official duties, without first making a public disclosure thereof. Personal interest, as distinguished from financial interest, includes an interest arising from blood, adoption, guardianship or marriage or close business or political association.
Typical conflicts of interest are enumerated herein for the guidance of all public officials and public employees and Villagers:
(a) Incompatible Employment: Holding, engaging in or accepting private employment or rendering services for or on behalf of private interests where such employment or service is incompatible with the proper discharge of the official public duties of the official or employee or which would tend to or could appear to influence or impair the independence of judgment or action in the performance of the official duties of the public official or public employee.
(b) Disclosure of Confidential Information: Disclose, without appropriate authorization, any information acquired by the public official or public employee in the course of his or her official duties which is confidential because of statutory or ordinance provisions, or when clearly designated as confidential to him or her when such confidential designation is warranted because of the status of the proceedings or the circumstances under which the information was received and preserving its confidentiality is clearly necessary to the proper conduct of government business. No such information shall be used to advance the financial or private interest of the public official or public employee or others.
(c) Gifts and Favors: Solicit, receive, accept or agree to receive or accept, directly or indirectly, or use or authorize the use of the authority or influence of his or her office or employment to secure anything of value or the promise or offer of anything of value for or in connection with his or her public service or public employment including, but not limited to, any gift, service, loan, gratuity, compensation, favor, thing or promise from any person, partnership, trust, business trust, corporation or association which to the knowledge of the public official or public employee is interested, directly or indirectly, in any manner whatsoever in business dealings with the Village or that may tend to manifest an influence upon the public official or employee in the proper discharge of public duties; nor shall any public official or employee grant in the discharge of public duties any improper favor, service or thing of value. For the purposes of this Section (c) publicly elected and appointed officials may accept de minimis hospitality, such as breakfasts or lunches with constituents, up to two hundred and fifty dollars ($250) per person or entity, not to exceed an annual total of five hundred dollars ($500) without requiring public disclosure.
For the purposes of this subsection (c) publicly elected and appointed officials may accept de minimis hospitality, such as breakfasts or lunches with constituents, up to seventy-five dollars ($75) per person or entity without requiring public disclosure.
(d) Representing Private Interests: Engage in the practice of law or represent or otherwise appear in behalf of a person, partnership, trust, business trust, corporation or association before any court or administrative agency in which the Village is a party except on behalf of the Village as an official or employee; or volunteer opinion evidence against the interests of the Village in any litigation or proceeding in which the Village is a party; or accept a retainer or other compensation that is contingent upon a specific action by a Village agency, including Council, administrative department, division or office, board or commission; or appear before any board, commission or other public body of the Village except in the performance of public obligations or official duties.
The provisions of this subsection (d) shall not prohibit:
(1) An appearance at or participation by a public official or employee before any department, division, office, board, commission or other Village agency in the discharge of his or her duties as such public officer or employee and without private compensation for such appearance or participation, including appearance or participation on behalf of constituents as a representative of the electorate.
(2) An appearance at or participation by a public official or employee, on his or her own behalf, or on behalf of partnership, trust, business trust, corporation, association or business in which he or she is a proprietor, partner, officer or employee before an agency of the Village of which he is not a member, with respect to a matter which is not in conflict with duties as such official or employee of the Village.
(e) Contracts with Village: Acting, directly or indirectly, as attorney, agent broker, or employee or in any other representative capacity on behalf of any private person, partnership, trust, business trust, corporation or association interested, directly or indirectly, in any manner whatsoever in any contract, work or service, or the sale or acquisition by the Village of any property, the cost of which is payable by Village funds or to the Village, or, directly or indirectly, be interested in the profits of any contract, work or service with the Village or in the sale or acquisition by the Village of any property, the cost of which is payable by Village funds or to the Village. No official or employee of the Village shall, directly or indirectly, have any interest other than his or her fixed compensation and reimbursable expenses in any expenditures of funds by the Village. A public official or employee shall not be deemed interested in any contract, work or service, or the sale or acquisition by the Village of any property, or the profits of any contract, work or service, or the sale or acquisition by the Village of any property unless such is approved, authorized, awarded or entered into by the public official or public employee in his or her official capacity.
(f) Solicitation of Employment: Within one (1) year after termination of public service or employment, no public official or employee shall represent a client or act in a representative capacity or accept private employment or receive private compensation for services, whether as attorney, agent, broker or employee with respect to any matter, case, proceeding, application, determination, issue or question in which he or she personally participated through decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, the rendering of advice, investigation or other substantial exercise of administrative discretion or which was under his or her charge during the period of his or her service as such official or employee.
(g) Personal Gain: Use of public position for personal gain.
(h) Personal Investments: Holding (possession of) investments which interfere with or tend to interfere with the proper discharge of public duty. This shall include financial participation in transactions as a public representative with a person, partnership, trust, business trust, corporation or association in which the public official or employee has a direct or indirect financial or other personal interest.
(i) Legislative Interest: Personal interest in legislation to the extent that private interest takes precedence over public interest or duty.
(j) Influencing Contract: Entering into contracts or other conduct of business by a person, partnership, trust, business trust, corporation or association in which the public official or employee has a controlling or other substantial financial interest and when the public official or employee can influence such contract or business because of his or her public position. "Substantial financial interest" includes any of the following interests in a business entity: proprietor, member of a partnership, officer or director of a corporation or association, trustee of a trust or a shareholder in a corporation whose shares are not obtainable on a recognized public stock exchange.
(k) Seeking Employment: Soliciting employment with a person, partnership, trust, business trust, corporation or association doing business with the Village over which the public official or employee had some control in his or her official capacity within one (1) year of the termination of public service.
(l) Rewarding Favors: Promising any person appointment to any municipal position as a reward for any political activity.
Notwithstanding (a) through (I) above, no Member of Council, the Mayor, or other public official or public employee of the Village is prohibited from participating in general interest matters that provide a uniform benefit or detriment to all citizens of the Village and include matters involving taxes, sewer and water services, police and fire protection, parks; or matters that are of such character as to not provide a substantial and improper influence on the employee or official since they do not affect the employee or official in a selective, differential or disproportionate way from any other citizen. In such general interest matters, a public employee or official should not be precluded from participating in such decisions that he or she was duly elected or appointed to make, unless he or she would secure a particular benefit that creates a conflict of interest.
Further, notwithstanding (a) through (I) above, this Section 127.05 does not apply to a public contract in which a public official, member of a public official's family, or one of a public official's business associates, has an interest, when all of the following apply:
(1) The subject of the public contract is necessary supplies or services for the Village or governmental agency or instrumentality involved;
(2) The supplies or services are unobtainable elsewhere for the same or lower cost, or are being furnished to the Village or governmental agency or instrumentality as part of a continuing course of dealing established prior to the public official's becoming associated with the Village or governmental agency or instrumentality involved;
(3) The treatment accorded the Village or governmental agency or instrumentality is either preferential to or the same as that accorded other customers or clients in similar transactions;
(4) The entire transaction is conducted at arm's length, with full knowledge by the Village or governmental agency or instrumentality involved, of the interest of the public official, member of the public official's family or business associate, and the public official takes not part in the deliberations or decisions of the Village or governmental agency or instrumentality with respect to the public contract.
(Ord. 3598. Passed 9-18-13.)