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Meetings of the Commission shall be open to the public in accordance with the Michigan Open Meetings Act, P.A. 267 of 1976, being M.C.L.A. §§ 15.261 through 15.275, as amended. Official minutes of meetings, once approved by the Commission, shall be filed with the Office of the City Clerk. All documents prepared by, or in the possession of, the Commission shall be public documents and shall be available for public inspection in accordance with the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, P.A. 442 of 1976, being M.C.L.A. §§ 15.231 through 15.246, as amended. Documents belonging to the Commission shall be retained in accordance with the city’s adopted record retention schedule.
(Ord. 10-017, passed 10-25-10)
BOARD OF ETHICS
The following words, terms and phrases when used in this subchapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning.
CITY BOARD. Shall collectively include City Council, city advisory boards, and city commissions.
CITY OFFICIAL. A person elected or appointed serving in any capacity with the City of Garden City, which is established by the City Charter or by City Ordinance which involves the exercise of a public power, trust, or duty. The term CITY OFFICIAL for this section does not include contracted or non-contracted employees, but does include any other official of the city, whether or not they receive compensation, including those who serve on City Council, city advisory boards and commissions, and volunteers.
COMPENSATION. Any money, property or thing of value or benefit received by any person in return for services rendered.
CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION. Any information which is available to a city official only because of the city official's status as an official of the City of Garden City and is not a matter of public knowledge or available to the public on request.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST. A personal interest of such substance as to induce action by a city official to promote the governmental decision or promote one's own personal or business benefit in the course of one's duty as a city official. Conflict of interest is either a personal interest or a duty or loyalty to a third party that competes with or is averse to a city official's duty to the public interest in the exercise of official duties or official actions.
DIRECT OR INDIRECT PARTICIPATION. The involvement through decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, preparation of any part of a purchase request, influencing the content of any specification or procurement standard.
DISINFORMATION. False or misleading information deliberately spread to deceive a person or people.
GOVERNMENT DECISION. A determination, action, vote, or disposition upon a motion, proposal, recommendation, resolution, ordinance, or measure on which a vote by the members of the City Council is required, and by which the City Council formulates or effectuates public policy.
IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS. Mean domestic partner, spouse, child, stepchild, sibling, parent, relative living in the same home.
MALFEASANCE. The doing of a wrongful act.
MISFEASANCE. The doing of a lawful act in a wrongful manner.
NONFEASANCE. The failure to perform an act required by the duties of the office.
OFFICIAL DUTIES/ACTION. A decision, recommendation, approval, disapproval or other action or failure to act which involves the use of discretionary authority.
PROCUREMENT. The buying, purchasing, renting, leasing, or otherwise acquiring of any supplies, services, or construction. It also includes all functions that pertain to the obtaining of any supply, service, or construction, including description of requirement, selection, and solicitation of sources, preparation and award of contract, and all phases of contract administration.
SUBSTANTIAL GIFT. Any gift in an amount over $100.
VENDOR. A vendor is a person, or business entity, that enters into a contract with the City of Garden City.
(Ord. 24-003, passed 5-20-24)
(A) The Mayor shall appoint seven members to the Board of Ethics, subject to the approval of the City Council, or as otherwise provided by state law. Current city officials (appointed or elected) or employees shall not be eligible for appointment to the Board. A person is eligible to be appointed to the Board of Ethics if he/she meets all of the following criteria:
(1) Has not been convicted of a felony;
(2) Is a resident of the City of Garden City;
(3) Is at least 21 years of age; and
(4) Is not the spouse of, romantically involved with, or a third-degree relative (great-grandparent, grandparent, parent, uncle, aunt, brother, sister, child, grandchild, great-grandchild, nephew or niece) of a current member of the City Council.
(B) Members of the Board may be removed by the Council for cause. Cause shall be determined by violating one of the prohibited conduct concerns in § 33.307.
(C) Members shall be appointed for terms of four years, except that of those first appointed, three shall serve for four years, three shall serve for three years, and one shall serve for two years.
(D) Four members of the Board of Ethics shall constitute a quorum and the affirmative vote of the majority of the Board (not the quorum) shall be necessary for any action.
(E) The City Clerk, or designee, is the "Liaison" to the Board of Ethics to assist the Board in carrying out its functions under this Board of Ethics subchapter and any policies and procedures approved by the Board of Ethics. The request for information held by city governmental offices may be directed to the Garden City Police Chief, or designee, to research requested information and forward their findings to the Ethics Board. The research shall be solely for fact finding, not for opinion. Should a complaint rise to a greater level, an outside special counsel may be contracted. SPECIAL COUNSEL need not be a licensed attorney, but must be a person with demonstrated experience in investigation.
(Ord. 24-003, passed 5-20-24)
A member of the Board of Ethics shall recuse himself or herself from acting on a case for reasons that include, but are not limited to, the following:
(A) The member is biased or prejudiced for or against:
(1) A person who has made a complaint;
(2) A person who is under investigation; or
(3) The attorney for a person who is under investigation.
(B) The member, based on objective and reasonable perceptions, has a serious risk of actual bias impacting the due process rights of a city official under investigation or a person who has filed an ethics complaint against a city official.
(C) The member has personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding.
(D) The member knows that he or she, individually or as a fiduciary, or the member's spouse, parent, or child wherever residing, or any other person who resides in the member's household, has more than a de minimis economic interest in the subject matter in controversy that could be substantially impacted by the proceeding.
(E) The member or the member's spouse or romantic partner, or a person within the third degree of relationship to either of them, or the spouse of such a person:
(1) Is a party to the proceeding, or an officer, director, or trustee of a party;
(2) Is acting as a lawyer in the proceeding;
(3) Is known by the member to have a more than de minimis interest that could be substantially affected by the proceeding; or
(4) Is to the member's knowledge likely to be a material witness in the proceeding.
(Ord. 24-003, passed 5-20-24)
(A) The Board of Ethics shall elect its own officers, consisting of Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary. The Secretary will keep the minutes of the meetings. The Chair will preside over the meetings. The Vice-Chair will preside in the absence of the Chair. The Secretary shall preside in the absence of the Chair and Vice-Chair. The person presiding over the meeting shall be deemed the Chair.
(B) The Executive Committee, consisting of the Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary, shall exclusively evaluate requests and complaints directed to the Ethics Board, in a non-public committee meeting. Any discussion of requests and complaints by the Executive Committee shall remain confidential.
(C) The Board of Ethics shall meet as needed. Meetings may be called by the Chair with 18 hours' notice. Meetings of the Board shall be subject to the requirements and exemptions of the Michigan Open Meetings Act.
(D) Members of the Board shall notify the Chair or Vice-Chair electronically if they are unable to attend any meetings.
(E) The liaison will prepare and distribute an agenda three days prior to the next Board of Ethics meeting. The liaison may place additional items on the agenda at the written request of the Chair or Vice-Chair and at least one other Board member.
(F) The agenda will generally consist of the following:
(1) Call the meeting to order;
(2) Roll call;
(3) Approval of the prior meeting minutes;
(4) Unfinished business;
(5) New business;
(6) Comment from the public (up to three minutes);
(7) Comment from the city administration;
(8) Board Member comments; and
(9) Adjournment.
(G) The rules of parliamentary procedure, as contained in the most recent edition of Robert's Rules of Order, shall govern the Board of Ethics where applicable and as modified to accommodate small assembly, provided such rules are not in conflict with:
(1) "Policies and Procedures" adopted by the Board of Ethics;
(2) The Charter or Ordinances of the City of Garden City; or
(3) State or federal law.
(H) The Minutes of the Board of Ethics meetings will be kept by the Secretary. The minutes shall contain the date, time, and place of the meeting, members present, members absent, and any decisions made.
(I) Board members may not engage in any political discussion or campaigning of any kind, during the Board's public meetings, as it relates to elected officials. No discussion shall take place regarding the Board members' support or opposition to a current or past elected official as well as any potential future candidates.
(J) Michigan Open Meetings Act provides that persons shall be permitted to address a meeting of a public body under the rules established by the public body, and also provides that the public body may limit the right to address the public body to prescribed times.
(1) There shall be a three minute time limit for each public speaker.
(2) The Chair, Vice-Chair, and/or the Secretary shall be responsible for keeping track of the public's allotted time of three minutes. The clock will start upon the first words of the speaker and will not stop while the speaker is recognized from the floor. The clock will continue to run until the speaker is completed or their speaking time is exhausted.
(3) Any person wishing to address the Board shall provide their name, city of residence, and shall address their comments to and through the Chair when speaking. Only the person recognized by the Chair shall be allowed to speak during the public comment portion of the agenda. Public comment is not a time for questions and responses, of which the Chair shall make the final decision.
(4) Everyone speaking before the Board should do so in a civil manner. Speakers shall refrain from abusive or profane remarks, vulgar language, disruptive outbursts, threats, racial slurs, or other conduct that interferes with the orderly conduct of the business meeting. Personal attacks on Board members, the administration, city staff, other speakers, or members of the public will not be tolerated.
(5) The Chair shall call to order any person who is being disorderly by speaking when not having been recognized by the Chair or is being disruptive to the proceedings. If any person, after being called to order, continues to be disorderly and disruptive to the meeting, the Chair may order that person be removed from that meeting immediately.
(Ord. 24-003, passed 5-20-24)
The Board of Ethics shall have the power to:
(A) Receive complaints concerning alleged unethical conduct by a city elected or appointed city official or board member, from any person or entity (naming a contact person), and conduct hearings on those complaints.
(B) Complaints must include verifiable information about the requester including name, address, phone number, and email address. Anonymous requests will not be considered.
(C) Upon receipt of a request for advisory opinion or complaint, preliminarily review the matter to determine if the Board has jurisdiction over the matter and/or persons identified in the request or complaint.
(D) Requests concerning city employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement, city employees not covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and city employees under any other contract will not be considered by the Board. The Board of Ethics does not have jurisdiction over these requests. Elected city officials are not considered city employees for purposes of this section.
(E) Upon receipt of an appropriate request for an advisory opinion, the liaison may recommend to the Board of Ethics that the matter be addressed in a manner provided by this subchapter. A request must be based on alleged unethical conduct that has occurred. The Board of Ethics will not consider requests that are speculative, hypothetical, or based on rumor.
(F) Act in compliance with § 33.308.
(G) Adopt forms for formal complaints, notices, applications for reinstatement, and any other written instruments necessary or desirable under these rules.
(H) Propose and monitor an ongoing program of education regarding ethical issues and concerns.
(I) Report to the City Council, no less than annually, regarding such matters as the Board deems appropriate, which may include the degree to which the objectives of the Board is being achieved; the number and nature of requests for advisory opinions and complaints; and the ultimate dispositions thereof.
(J) Review this subchapter as needed to evaluate and propose to the City Council any suggested changes.
(Ord. 24-003, passed 5-20-24)
Public records, as contemplated by the Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), M.C.L.A. 15.231 et seq., are generally subject to disclosure upon a proper request. To the maximum extent permitted by FOIA and other applicable laws, including this subchapter, each member of the Board of Ethics shall maintain full confidentiality of any and all matters submitted to and/or investigated by the Board of Ethics under this subchapter.
(Ord. 24-003, passed 5-20-24)
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