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2-156-080  Conflicts of interest; appearance of impropriety.
   (a)   No official or employee shall make or participate in the making of any governmental decision with respect to any matter in which he has any financial interest distinguishable from that of the general public, or from which he has derived any income or compensation during the preceding twelve months or from which he reasonably expects to derive any income or compensation in the following twelve months.
   (b)   (1)   With regard to any matter pending before the city council or any council committee, any member of the city council who has any financial interest that is either (1) distinguishable from that of the general public or all aldermen, or (2) from which he or she has derived any income or compensation during the preceding twelve months or from which he or she reasonably expects to derive any income or compensation in the following twelve months shall publicly disclose the nature and extent of such interest on the records of proceedings of the city council, and shall also notify the board of ethics of such interest within 96 hours of delivery by the clerk to the member, of the introduction of any ordinance, resolution, order or other matter in the city council, or as soon thereafter as the member is or should be aware of such potential conflict of interest. The board of ethics shall make such disclosures available for public inspection and copying immediately upon receipt. He or she shall abstain from voting on the matter but shall be counted present for purposes of a quorum. The obligation to report a potential conflict of interest under this subsection arises as soon as the member of the city council is or should be aware of such potential conflict.
      (2)   To avoid even an appearance of impropriety, any member of the city council who has any business relationship with a person or entity with a matter pending before the city council or any council committee: (1) that creates a financial interest on the part of such member, or the domestic partner or spouse of such member, or (2) from whom or which he or she has derived any income or compensation during the preceding twelve months or from whom or which he or she reasonably expects to derive any income or compensation in the following twelve months, shall publicly disclose the nature of such business relationship or income or compensation on the records of proceedings of the city council, and shall also notify the board of ethics of such relationship within 96 hours of delivery by the clerk to the member, of the introduction of any ordinance, resolution, order or other matter in the city council, or as soon thereafter as the member is or should be aware of such potential conflict of interest. The board of ethics shall make such disclosures available for public inspection and copying immediately upon receipt. He shall abstain from voting on the matter but shall be counted present for purposes of a quorum. The obligation to report a potential conflict of interest under this subsection arises as soon as the member of the city council is or should be aware of such potential conflict. For purposes of this subsection (2) only: “matter pending before the city council or any council committee” shall refer to council action involving the award of loan funds, grant funds or bond proceeds, bond inducement ordinances, leases, land sales, zoning matters, the creation of tax increment financing districts, concession agreements or the establishment of a Class 6(b) Cook County property tax classification.
   (c)   Any official or employee who has a financial interest in any matter pending before any city agency shall disclose the nature of such interest to the board of ethics and, if the matter is pending in his own agency, to the head of the agency, except as provided by subsection (b). The obligation to report under this subsection arises as soon as the official or employee is or should be aware of the pendency of the matter. This subsection does not apply to applications for health, disability or workers' compensation benefits.
(Prior code § 26.2-8; Added Coun. J. 5-16-90, p. 16204; Amend Coun. J. 7-30-97, p. 50892; Amend Coun. J. 12-10-97, p. 58942; Amend Coun. J. 4-29-98, p. 66709; Amend Coun. J. 12-2-98, p. 86542; Amend Coun. J. 6-23-04, p. 26935, § 4; Amend Coun. J. 7-25-12, p. 31123, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-26-13, p. 67481, Art. II, § 5)