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 in a manner that will tend to preserve public confidence in and respect for the government he 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: a) treat all citizens with courtesy, impartiality, fairness and equality under the law; and b) avoid both actual and potential conflicts between their private self-interest and the public interest.
To help public officials and employees achieve these goals is one of the objectives of the Code.
The other objective is based on the proposition that no man can serve two (2) masters, nor should he attempt so to do. Therefore, this Code of Ethics proposes to relieve him of the impossible task of judging himself, instead, the said Code places judgment in the hands of an impartial Board of Ethics 1 which will review the facts and measure them by the yardstick of public morality established by this Code. (Ord. 822, 3-15-1971)
Notes
| 1 | 1. See Title 2, Chapter 3 of this Code. |