(A) Use of official position.
(1) Town officials should avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in the exercise of their official duties. Their official actions should be above reproach.
(2) No town official shall use his or her official position or the town’s facilities for his or her private gain, nor shall he or she appear before or represent any private person, group, company, entity, business enterprise or interest before any department, agency, commission, board or staff of the town, except in matters of purely civic or public concern. The Town Administrator and department heads shall not be deemed as “staff of the town” for the purposes of this section and may be consulted by town officials with a conflict of interest. A public official shall not be prohibited from appearing before the town entities to represent his or her own personal interest, and not that of third parties or separate entities on matters affecting his or her own real property or business interests, if the town official has been excluded from the voting and participation on the matter in question. The provisions of this division are not intended to prohibit appropriate roles and activities by a town official at town events or events attended by the town, such as acting as a host, an ambassador or representative of the town, and are not intended to prohibit his or her speaking before neighborhood groups and other nonprofit organizations.
(B) Disclosure of confidential information. No town official shall use or disclose confidential information for purposes of advancing any matter in which he or she has an interest, nor shall a town official disclose for any purpose information gained at a closed session until the disclosure is authorized by law.
(C) Special treatment. No town official or employee shall grant any special consideration, treatment or advantage to any citizen beyond that which is available to every other citizen.
(D) Incompatible employment. No town official shall engage in or accept employment with, or render services for, any person, business entity or nonprofit organization, when the employment or service is incompatible with the proper discharge of his or her official duties, or would tend to impair his or her independence, judgment or action in the performance of his or her official duties, unless otherwise permitted by law and unless full disclosure is made, pursuant to the code of ethics.
(E) Gifts and favors. No town official shall knowingly accept gifts from any person, business entity or nonprofit organization. This provision is intended to supplement rather than replace or modify the restrictions applicable to town officials provided in G.S. §§ 14-234 and 133-32.
(F) Nepotism. Article V, section 5 of the town’s personnel policy is hereby incorporated by reference into the code of ethics.
(G) Interest in official act. Any town official who has an interest in any official town act or action shall not participate at any time or in any manner in the discussion or consideration of the matter. The town official shall also publicly disclose on the record, in open session, the existence of the interest or conflict and shall withdraw from any voting on the matter, if excused by a majority vote of the Town Board of Aldermen and if permitted by G.S. § 160A-75.
(Ord. 10-17, passed 11-3-2010)