a. Non-Discrimination. No official or employee shall grant or make available to any person any consideration, treatment, advantage or favor beyond that which is the Town policy to grant or make available to the public at large without prior Town Council or Town Manager approval. No official or employee shall discriminate against any person in violation of federal, state, or local law, or the ordinances of the Town of Schererville.
b. Confidential Information. No official or employee shall use or permit the use of any confidential information regarding Town of Schererville government business to advance the financial or personal interest of said official or employee or any other person or entity, unless and until such information is available to the public.
c. Electoral Activities. No official, employee, or others who are engaged in any activities to gain public office, or to assist another person or group to gain public office, shall violate any provisions of any and all local, state, and federal laws. No official or employee shall instruct or induce other officials or employees to engage in conduct prohibited by the Town, including the use of other employees or Town assets for any activity related to the political campaign of said official or employee, or for any purpose other than authorized Town business.
d. Use of Public Property. No official or employee shall use, or induce, order, or allow other persons to use, Town funds or property for a purpose which is for private benefit unless the property is available to the general public on equal terms, or unless the use is in accordance with other Town municipal policies or ordinances.
e. Assistance. No official or employee shall assist any person in any transaction with the Town when such assistance is or would reasonably appear to be improperly enhanced by the position of the official or employee unless said assistance is provided in the course of official Town duties.
f. Financial or Personal Interest Conflicts. Unless a disclosure statement is completed and filed within five (5) days of the conflict arising, no official or employee shall engage in the following:
1. No official or employee shall represent any individual petitioner other than the Town or himself or herself before the Town Council, any Commission, any Board, or any Committee of the Town. An official or employee may represent an entity before the Town, its Boards and Commissions, if the official or employee is an owner of at least fifty (50%) percent of that entity, or represents at least fifty percent (50%) of the property or business that is the subject of a petition.
2. No official or employee shall participate or represent another person or entity in the procurement of any contract or purchase by the Town if such contract or purchase involves the official or employee, a member of said official or employee’s family, or other entity in which the official or employee has a financial interest.
3. No official or employee, either on that person’s behalf or on behalf of any other person, shall have any financial or personal interest in any business or transaction with the Town Council, as well as any Board, Commission, Committee or other Town public body unless that official or employee makes full public disclosure of the nature and extent of such interest, and if required, disqualifies himself or herself from participating in and acting upon the business or transaction.
4. No official, in his or her public capacity, shall vote on any issue/matter or participate in any discussion if the matter has a potential financial benefit to the official, his or her immediate family members or their business. In the event that an official is required to abstain from voting on a particular issue, the official or employee shall announce the abstention and the reason for the abstention, or that a filed disclosure form provides the reason for the abstention, prior to discussion and voting on the particular issue. In the event that the abstention from voting would result in a lack of a quorum for the public body to officially act, then the affected official may vote after full disclosure of the conflict.
5. All conditions and requirements herein are supplemental and in addition to the responsibility and duty of any official or employee to execute and deliver for processing to the Town Council a Uniform Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement pursuant to the provisions of I.C. § 35-44-1-3, as amended from time to time, as well as any and all other applicable and relevant laws.
(Ord. No. 1726, § 2, 1-17-08; Ord. No. 1750, § 2, 2-29-09)