(a) Purpose. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the city that the proper operation of democratic government requires that:
(1) city officials and employees be independent, impartial, and responsible only to the people of the city;
(2) governmental decisions and policy be made using the proper procedures of the governmental structure;
(3) except as provided in the Dallas City Charter, no city official or employee shall have any financial interest, direct or indirect, or engage in any business, transaction, or professional activity; or incur any obligation of any nature that is in conflict with the proper discharge of the city official's or employee's duties in the public interest;
(4) public office not be used for personal gain; and
(5) the city council at all times be maintained as a nonpartisan body.
(b) Principles of conduct. The city council further believes that an employee or elected or appointed official of the city assumes a public trust and should recognize the importance of high ethical standards within the organization they lead or support. Essential values and ethical behaviors that an employee or elected or appointed official should exemplify include the following:
(1) Commitment beyond self.
(2) Obedience and commitment to the law.
(3) Commitment to the public good.
(4) Respect for the value and dignity of all individuals.
(5) Accountability to the public.
(6) Truthfulness.
(7) Fairness.
(8) Responsible application of resources.
(c) Application.
(1) To implement the purpose and principles of conduct in this section, the city council has determined that it is advisable to enact this code of ethics for all city officials, employees, and persons doing business with the city, to serve as a standard for official conduct and as a basis for discipline.
(2) This chapter is cumulative of and supplemental to all applicable provisions of the city charter, other city ordinances, and state and federal laws and regulations. Compliance with this chapter does not excuse or relieve any person from any obligation imposed by the city charter, other city ordinances, or state or federal laws or regulations.
(3) Even if a city official or employee is not prohibited from taking official action by this chapter, action may be prohibited by duly promulgated personnel rules.
In this chapter, the following words and phrases have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, unless the context requires otherwise:
(1) ACCEPT. A person "accepts" an offer of employment or a business opportunity when the person enters into a legally binding contract or any informal agreement or understanding that the parties expect to be carried out.
(2) AFFILIATED. Business entities are "affiliated" if one is the parent or subsidiary of the other or if they are subsidiaries of the same parent business entity.
(3) BEFORE THE CITY. Representation or appearance "before the city" means before:
(A) the city council;
(B) a board, commission, or other city body or city entity; or
(C) a city official or employee.
(4) BENEFIT means anything reasonably regarded as monetary gain or monetary advantage, including a personal benefit to any other person in whose welfare the beneficiary has a direct and substantial interest. Monetary gain or advantage includes, but is not limited to, gain or advantage in the form of money, services, goods, and financial or business relationships.
(5) BUSINESS ENTITY means a sole proprietorship, partnership, firm, corporation, holding company, joint-stock company, receivership, trust, unincorporated association, or any other legal entity, except that the term does not include a governmental entity.
(6) CITY means the city of Dallas, Texas.
(7) CITY COUNCIL MEMBER or MEMBER OF THE CITY COUNCIL means all members of the Dallas city council, including the mayor.
(8) CLIENT.
(A) The term "client" includes any specialized and highly personalized professional business relationship of an individual official or employee. The term does not include a regular or ordinary business or vendor relationship.
(B) If the official or employee does not personally represent the client but conducts business as a member of a primary partnership or professional corporation or conducts business through another entity, a client of the partnership, professional corporation, or entity is deemed to be a client of the official or employee if:
(i) the partnership, professional corporation, or business entity derived two percent or more of its annual gross income within the preceding 12 months from the client; and
(ii) the city official or employee knows of the client's relationship.
(C) This definition does not apply to the term "client" when used in Article V (lobbyist regulations).
(9) CODE OF ETHICS or ETHICS CODE means this chapter.
(10) CONFIDENTIAL GOVERNMENT INFORMATION includes:
(A) all information held by the city that is not available to the public under the Texas Public Information Act;
(B) any information from a meeting closed to the public pursuant to the Texas Open Meetings Act;
(C) any information protected by attorney-client, attorney work product, or other applicable legal privilege; and
(D) any research, opinions, work product, investigative reports, advice, recommendations, reasoning, or conclusions in a draft document concerning city business or city policy that has not yet been released to the public in accordance with established city procedures.
(11) DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR means the head of any department or office, including an office under the city manager, that is created by the city charter or by ordinance of the city council.
(12) DISCRETIONARY CONTRACT means any contract other than one that by law must be awarded on a competitive bid basis.
(13) DOING BUSINESS WITH THE CITY means any person, either individually or on behalf of an entity, who submits a bid or proposal, or negotiates or enters into any city contract, whether or not the contract is required by state law to be competitively bid.
(14) DOMESTIC PARTNER means an individual who, on a continuous basis, lives in the same household and shares the common resources of life in a close, personal, intimate, committed relationship with a city official or employee. A domestic partner may be of the same or opposite gender as the official or employee and is not married to or related by blood to the official or employee.
(15) DONATION means a voluntary transfer of property (including the payment of money) or the conferral of a benefit having monetary value (such as the rendition of services or the forbearance of collection on a debt) to the city, unless consideration of equal or greater value is received by the donor.
(16) EMPLOYEE or CITY EMPLOYEE means any person listed on the city of Dallas payroll as an employee, whether part-time, full-time, permanent, or temporary.
(17) EX PARTE COMMUNICATION means any communication not made in a written document filed with the ethics advisory commission and not made orally during a hearing but does not include a communication made pursuant to an inquiry duly authorized by the commission.
(18) FORMER CITY OFFICIAL OR EMPLOYEE means a person who has left service as a city official or employee.
(19) GIFT means a voluntary transfer of property (including the payment of money) or the conferral of a benefit having monetary value (such as the rendition of services or the forbearance of collection on a debt), unless consideration of equal or greater value is received by the donor.
(20) INFORMATION means a written statement filed with the ethics advisory commission by the inspector general alleging violation(s) of the code of ethics and contains the name of the respondent, the city rule or city code or city charter provision alleged to have been violated, the place where the violation is alleged to have been committed, the date of the alleged violation, and a description of the violation.
(21) KNOWINGLY or WITH KNOWLEDGE. A person acts "knowingly" or "with knowledge" regarding his or her conduct or to circumstances surrounding his or her conduct when the person is aware of the nature of the conduct or that the circumstances exist or should be reasonably certain to cause the result.
(22) OFFICIAL or CITY OFFICIAL includes the following persons, except when used in Article V (lobbyist regulations):
(A) City council members.
(B) Municipal judges.
(C) The city manager, the chief of staff, assistant city managers, and chiefs.
(D) The city auditor and the first assistant city auditor.
(E) The city attorney, the first assistant city attorney, and the inspector general.
(F) The city secretary and the first assistant city secretary.
(G) All department directors.
(H) Members of all boards, commissions, committees, and other bodies created by the city council pursuant to city ordinance or federal or state law, including bodies that are only advisory in nature.
(I) City council appointed members of boards of entities that were not created by the city council.
(J) The chief financial officer.
(K) For purposes of Chapter 12A only, a volunteer on committees or task forces formed by boards or commissions.
(23) OFFICIAL ACTION includes:
(A) any affirmative act (including the making of a formal or informal recommendation), that is within the scope of an official's or employee's duties; and
(B) any failure to act, if the official or employee is under a duty to act.
(24) OFFICIAL CAPACITY or OFFICIAL DUTIES means acting, or actions relating to matters, within the scope of employment or office, or under the official or employee's control or supervision.
(25) OFFICIAL INFORMATION includes information gathered pursuant to the power or authority of city government.
(26) PARTNER includes any partner in a general partnership, limited partnership, or joint venture.
(27) PERISHABLE FOOD OR BEVERAGES are consumable products, such as packaged foods, delivered fresh foods, including baked goods and edible gift baskets, sealed beverages, and floral arrangements.
(28) PERSONAL BENEFIT means any benefit knowingly solicited, accepted, or agreed to be accepted by another for the purpose of influencing how a city official or employee performs or refrains from performing an official action.
(29) PERSONALLY PARTICIPATED. The requirement of having "personally participated" in a matter is met only if the individual in fact exercised discretion relating to the matter. The fact that the person had responsibility for a matter does not by itself establish that the person "personally participated" in the matter.
(30) RELATIVE means a current or former spouse, domestic partner, child, stepchild, brother, sister, parent or stepparent, or a person claimed as a dependent on the city official or employee's latest individual federal income tax return.
(31) REPRESENTATION encompasses every form of communication or personal appearance in which a person, not acting in performance of official duties, formally or informally serves as an advocate for private interests. Lobbying and service as an expert witness, even on an informal basis, are forms of representation. "Representation" does not include appearance as a fact witness in litigation or other official proceedings.