(A) Participation prohibitions. Except as permitted by Commission opinion, a public servant may not participate in:
(1) Any matter, except in the exercise of an administrative or ministerial duty which does not affect the disposition or decision with respect to that matter, if, to his or her knowledge, the public servant or a partner in interest has an interest therein.
(2) Except in the exercise of an administrative or ministerial duty that does not affect the disposition or decision with respect to the matter, any matter in which any of the following is a party:
(a) A business entity in which the official or employee has a direct financial interest of which the official or employee may reasonably be expected to know;
(b) A business entity for which the official, employee, or a qualified relative of the official or employee is an officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee;
(c) A business entity with which the official or employee or, to the knowledge of the official or employee, a qualified relative is negotiating employment or has any arrangement concerning prospective employment;
(d) If the contract reasonably could be expected to result in a conflict between the private interests of the official or employee and the official duties of the official or employee, a business entity that is a party to an existing contract with the official or employee, or which, to the knowledge of the official or employee, is a party to a contract with a qualified relative;
(e) An entity, doing business with the town, in whch a direct financial interest is owned by another entity in which the official or employee has a direct financial interest, if the official or employee may be reasonably expected to know of both direct financial interests; or
(f) A business entity that:
1. The official or employee knows is a creditor or obligor of the official or employee or a qualified relative of the official or employee with respect to a thing of economic value; and
2. As a creditor or obligee, is in a position to directly substantially affect the interest of the official or employee or qualified relative of the official or employee.
(B) Duty to leave meeting. To avoid the appearance of impropriety, after any public servant or a partner in interest is determined to have a conflict of interest or a potential conflict of interest in any matter, and once all questions relating to the conflict of interest have been answered to the satisfaction of the decision maker, the public servant shall immediately leave the meeting room, except that if the matter is being considered at a public meeting, the public servant may remain in the area of the room occupied by the general public. If a public servant who has a conflict of interest in a matter is present as a member of a body which is to consider the matter, the public servant shall leave his or her regular seat as a member of the body, and not return to it until deliberation and action on the matter is completed. Nothing herein shall require members of voting bodies to leave their seats while action is taken regarding any item contained on a "consent agenda" on which there is no deliberation, the public servant's conflict has been disclosed, and the public servant abstains from voting on the item.
(C) If a disqualification pursuant to divisions (A) or (B) of this section leaves any body with less than a quorum capable of acting, or if the disqualified public servant is required by law to act or is the only person authorized to act, the disqualified public servant shall disclose the nature and circumstances of the conflict and may participate or act.
(D) Employment restrictions.
(1) (a) Except as permitted by decision of the Commission when such interest is disclosed or when this employment does not create a conflict of interest or appearance of conflict, a public servant may not:
1. Be employed by, or have a financial interest in, any entity subject to his or her authority or that of the town agency, board, or commission with which he or she is affiliated or any entity which is negotiating or has entered a contract with that agency, board, or commission; or
2. Hold any other employment relationship which would impair the impartiality or independence of judgment of the public servant.
(b) This prohibition does not apply to:
1. A public servant who is appointed to a regulatory licensing authority pursuant to a requirement that persons subject to the jurisdiction of the authority be represented in appointments to it;
3. A public servant whose duties are ministerial, if the private employment or financial interest does not create a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest, as permitted and in accordance with regulations adopted by the Commission.
(2) A former public servant may not assist or represent another party other than the town for compensation in a case, contract, or other specific matter involving the town if that matter is one in which he or she significantly participated as a public servant.
(3) A public servant may not assist or represent a party for contingent compensation in any matter before or involving the town other than in a judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding, provided, however, that nothing herein shall preclude a public servant from assisting or representing a party for contingent compensation in any matter before or involving entities where fees are established by law.
(4) An individual or a person that employs an individual who assists a town agency in the drafting of specifications, an invitation for bids, or a request for proposals for a procurement may not submit a bid or proposal for that procurement or assist or represent another person, directly or indirectly, who is submitting a bid or proposal for the procurement. The Commission may establish exemption from the requirements of this section for providing descriptive literature, sole source procurements, and written comments solicited by the procuring agency.
(E) Use of prestige of office. A public servant may not intentionally use the prestige of his or her office for his or her own private gain or that of another. The performance of usual and customary constituent services by an elected official, without additional compensation, does not constitute the use of the prestige of office for a public servant's private gain or that of another.
(F) Solicitation or acceptance of gifts.
(1) An official or employee may not solicit any gift.
(2) An official or employee may not directly solicit or facilitate the solicitation of a gift, on behalf of another person, from an individual regulated lobbyist.
(3) An official or employee may not knowingly accept a gift, directly or indirectly, from a person that the official or employee knows or has reason to know:
(a) Is doing business with or seeking to do business with the town office, agency, board, or commission with which the official or employee is affiliated;
(b) Has financial interests that may be substantially and materially affected, in a manner distinguishable from the public generally, by the performance of nonperformance of the official duties of the official or employee,
(c) Is engaged in an activity regulated or controlled by the official's or employee's governmental unit; or
(d) Is a lobbyist with respect to matters within the jurisdiction of the official or employee.
(4) Division (F)(5) of this section does not apply to a gift:
(a) That would tend to impair the impartiality and the independence of judgment of the official or employee receiving the gift;
(b) Of significant value that would give the appearance of impairing the impartiality and independence of judgment of the official or employee; or
(c) Of significant value that the recipient official or employee believes or has reason to believe is designed to impair the impartiality and independence of judgment of the official or employee.
(5) Notwithstanding division (F)(3) of this section, an official or employee may accept the following:
(a) Meals and beverages consumed in the presence of the donor or sponsoring entity;
(b) Ceremonial gifts or awards that have insignificant monetary value;
(c) Unsolicited gifts of nominal value that do not exceed $20 in cost or trivial items of informational value;
(d) Reasonable expenses for food, travel, lodging, and scheduled entertainment of the official or the employee at a meeting which is give in return for the participation of the official or employee in a panel or speaking engagement at the meeting;
(e) Gifts of tickets or free admission extended to an elected local official to attend a charitable, cultural, or political event, if the purpose of this gift or admission is a courtesy or ceremony extended to the elected official's office;
(f) A specific gift or class of gifts that the Commission exempts from the operation of this division upon a finding, in writing, that acceptance of the gift or class of gifts would not be detrimental to the impartial conduct of the business of the town and that the gift is purely personal and private in nature;
(g) Gifts from a person related to the official or employee by blood or marriage, or any other individual who is a member of the household of the official or employee; or
(h) Honoraria for speaking to or participating in a meeting, provided that the offering of the honorarium is not related in any way to the official's or employee's official position.
(G) Disclosure of confidential information. No public servant or former public servant shall divulge to any unauthorized person confidential information acquired in the course of holding his or her position in advance of the time prescribed by the governing body, administrators, or other applicable law for its release to the public.
(H) Members of a voting body shall avoid ex parte contact with applicants or potential applicants, or potential interested persons who may come before the voting body requesting approval or disapproval of a particular application or project, and shall refrain from discussing with such persons applications or projects which they have reason to believe will come before them in their official capacity. The public has a right to expect that decisions are made by evidence and exhibits presented on the record. Ex parte communications received in violation of this division (H) shall be placed in the record and disclosed to all parties, who shall then have ten days within which to rebut them.
(I) Exemptions and waivers. The Commission may recommend to the Mayor and Council that it grant exemptions to or modifications of this § 12-6 as to public servants serving as members of town boards and commissions, when the Commission finds that the application of § 12-6 would constitute an unreasonable invasion of privacy and would significantly reduce the availability of qualified persons for public service, and that the exemption or modification would not be contrary to the purposes of this chapter.
(Ord. 06-2012, passed 11-5-2012)