For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:
(a) "Anything of value" includes:
(1) Money, bank bills or notes, United States treasury notes, and other bills, bonds, or notes issued by lawful authority and intended to pass and circulate as money;
(2) Goods and chattels;
(3) Promissory notes, bills of exchange, orders, drafts, warrants, checks, or bonds given for the payment of money;
(4) Receipts given for the payment of money or other property,
(5) Rights in action;
(6) Things which savor of the realty and are, at the time they are taken, a part of the freehold, whether they are of the substance or produce thereof or affixed thereto, although there may be no interval between the severing and taking away;
(7) Any interest in realty, including fee simple and partial interests, present and future, contingent or vested interest, beneficial interests, leasehold interests, and any other interest in realty;
(8) Any promise of future employment;
(9) Every other thing of value.
(b) "Business associate" means a person with whom a public official or employee is conducting or undertaking a financial transaction.
(c) "Classified civil service employee" shall mean those employees of the Village so designated in the Charter of the Village of Highland Hills and applicable provisions of the Ohio Revised Code.
(d) "Conflict of interest" means that the private interests of an individual interfere with the public interests he is required to serve in the exercise of his authority and duties in his office or position of employment.
(e) "Family member" includes any spouse, children and children of a spouse, parents and parents of a spouse and their spouses, grandparents and grandparents of a spouse and their spouses, grandchildren and grandchildren of a spouse and their spouses, siblings and siblings of a spouse and their spouses and children.
(f) "His", "him" and "himself'' shall include both genders.
(g) "Interest" means a definite and particular benefit or detriment, direct or indirect, to anything of value.
(h) "Matter" includes any case, proceeding, application, determination, issue, or question, or the proposal, consideration, or enactment of statutes, rules, ordinances, resolutions, or charter or constitutional amendments.
(i) "Ministerial functions" means any activity that does not involve public policy making or the exercise of discretion, and includes clerical duties such as the receipt and acknowledgment of documents, including tax returns, applications for permits and licenses and other similar documents.
(j) "On duty" means that a public official or employee of the Village is scheduled to be at work or is working. The term "on duty" does not include time an individual is not actually performing duties under the direct supervision or direction of the Village or otherwise acting within the scope of his employment, any time an individual is on any break, lunch period, or is on standby to work, or while an individual is on any paid or unpaid leave.
(k) "Personal interest" means the direct or indirect interest of a natural person, partnership, corporation, or any other entity other than the Village of Highland Hills or an organization in which the Village is affiliated.
(l) "Political activity" means any partisan activity related to campaigns and elections involving primaries, partisan ballots or partisan candidates.
(m) "Public employee" means any person holding a nonelective position, by appointment or employment in the government of the Village of Highland Hills.
(n) "Public official or employee" means any person who is elected or appointed to an office or is an employee of the Village of Highland Hills whether paid or unpaid, full time or part-time, including members of boards, committees and commissions. "Public official or employee" does not include a person elected or appointed to the office of precinct, ward, or district committee member under Ohio R.C. 3517.03, any presidential elector, or any delegate to a national convention.
(o) "Represent" includes any formal or informal appearance before, or any written or oral communication with, any public agency on behalf of any person.
(Ord. 2014-11. Passed 6-11-14.)