It is the public policy of this city that all city officials shall construe and implement ethical standards and guidelines with sincerity, integrity and commitment so as to advance the spirit of this division in accordance with the following guiding principles:
(1) Public interest: City officials are delegated power from the public and are obliged to exercise that power as trustees of the public. The power and resources of government service therefore shall be used only to advance the public interest.
(2) Objective judgment: Loyalty to the public interest requires that all matters shall be decided with independent, objective judgment, free from avoidable conflicts of interest, improper influences, and competing loyalties.
(3) Accountability: Government affairs shall be conducted in an open, efficient, fair and honorable manner, which enables citizens to make informed judgments and to hold officials accountable.
(4) Democratic leadership: All city officials shall honor and respect the spirit and principles of representative democracy and will scrupulously observe the spirit as well as the letter of the law.
(5) Respectfulness: All city officials shall safeguard public confidence by being honest, fair, impartial, and respectful toward all persons and property with whom they have contact and by avoiding conduct which may tend to undermine respect for city officials and for the city as an institution.
(Ord. No. 132, § 3, 9-7-1999; Ord. No. 233, 3-1-2021)