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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1984 09-26 CHCA BROOKLYN CENTER CHARTER COI.iNISSION September 26, 1984 8 :00 P.M. City ?all A r E PLA 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3 Approval of 7inutes of 7ay 23, 1984 4. Old Business A. Status of Elections amendment B. Code of Ethics Gerald Splinter 5. New Dusiness A. Filling Charter Commission Vacancies 6. Next Meeting Date 7. Adjournment MEMORANDUM TO: City Council and Charter Commission Members FROM: Gerald G. Splinter, City Manager SUBJECT: Code of Ethics DATE: September 19, 1984 Attached please find a rough draft of a Code of Ethics section from the proposed City of Brooklyn Center Employee Manual. This manual would be adopted by myself as an administrative policy, and /or it could be reworded in ordinance language to be a part of the personnel ordinance. We are still looking at the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches. Regardless of our recommendation to the City Council on the ordinance, something similar to this will appear in the Employee Manual. We would be also looking at making the contents of this document included as a part of the appointment and employment process for all elected and appointed officials and employees. w, .,-_..s We have looked at wording the document in an ordinance form. It comes off very negative. The question which is going to have to be answered is what is the enforceability if it is an administrative document. I think this is an item that certainly we will need the legal,opiniQn on before we can finalize. I hope the Charter Commission will take this o 4 opportunity to review the�ocument and check if it covers all the bases they had discussed previously. We will also be looking into the feasibility of the City Council adopting the standard by resolution, which would give it some enforceability. Again, that's a legal point to be checked out. When I state the enforceability question I'm talking to criminal prosecution. Certainly if people violate the provisions of this document, the em" payee e uld be disciplined or discharged for their actions. We are also going to have to check out certain sections such as the one on solicitation for business and make sure that it doesn't hinder the activities of the police department when they buy information for criminal prosecution purposes. The basic information in this Code would be given, as a part of the appointment process, to all employees and appointed members of City boards, commissions and committees. You will note the Code of Ethics directs all inquiries to the City Manager and in some documents from other communities they direct inquiries to the City Attorney. I have no problem with either choice except that in our case we do not have a single attorney. We appoint a law firm and that could be somewhat confusing. I believe either official would accomplish the same goals and in Brooklyn Center's case at least it might be better to use the City Manager. ROUGH DRAFT, r CODE OF ETHICS A. GENERAL INTEGRITY The City of Brooklyn Center values its reputation for integrity. Our practices must at least be compatible with economic and social priorities of the locales in which we operate. While ethical standards may vary in different environments, honesty and integrity must characterize all of the activities of our elected, appoin�£ed, volunteer officials and employees. B. COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS AND REGULATIONS We strive to be in compliance with all laws and regulations that are applicable to the City. In some instances laws and regulations may be ambiguous and difficult to interpret. Should an employee, member of an advisory commission, or member of the City Council need assistance in interpreting a law, regulation, ethical standard or conflict of interest, they should contact their supervisor or the City Manager's Office as they are expected to seek such advice as is necessary to comply with this policy. C. POLITICAL ACTIVITY The City does not make political contributions or otherwise support political candidates or parties. No supervisor or employee shall be rewarded or penalized directly or indirectly for their participation or nonparticipation in the political process. D. SOLICITATION OF BUSINESS We do not condone commercial or political bribery of any kind to get an advantage or any other purpose even though such action' couY'd e enef icial to the City. E. PROPER ACCOUNTING a A,• It'-4 0•:;� _Z 0? Governmental auditing, accounting and financial reporting standards should be used at all times, and necessary internal management tools used to comply with these standards should be maintained. F. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST lz 7 Elected and appointed officials, volunteers and employees must avoid personal interests which conflict with the interests of the City. Situations giving the appearance of conflict should be avoided. Anyone having or contemplating a personal interest which is or might be in conflict with the interests of the City of Brooklyn Center is required to disclose the interest to the Citv Mangur. If one is in doubt regarding the existence of` a conflict of interest, be sure and contact the City Manager's Office for clarification. G. ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS OR ENTERTAINMENT No gift or entertainment however small may be accepted which may imply a conflict between our personal interests and the _,j_ P_r_g4s, of the Cit _Qf Brooklyn Cenfer: of'gifts or entertainment should be considered with pe the ex ctation that acceptance will become publicly known. H. THE USE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION AND CITY PROPERTY Confidential information, City time, supplies, property and equipment cannot be used to further the interest of City of Brooklyn Center elected or appointed officials, volunteers or employees. I. DISCOVERY OF QUESTIONABLE ACTS Discovery of acts of questionable nature, such as apparent violation of City policy or possible illegal acts, shall be reported in confidence to the City Manager, who will take such steps as are appropriate to protect the interests of the may. r REPORT TO THE CHARTER COMMISSION ON ETHICS AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST In 1979, the Charter Commission began a study of ethics in Govern- ment. The consensus of the Commission at That time was to strengthen existing language in the Charter and.to add further language restricting possible conflicts of interest. Discussion was centered on Sec. 2.04 of the _Charter. On Jan. 28, 1980, the following amendments dealing with ethics were submitted to the City Council for their consideration. Amendment 3: Sec. 2.04 Subd. 1. INCOMPATIBLE OFFICES. No member of the Council shall be appointed City Manager, nor shall any member hold any paid municipal office or employment for the City, nor shall any member contract to supply Roods or services to the City; and until one QJ year after the Expiration of the memberh term as Mayor or Councilmember, no former member shall be appointed to any paid appointive office or employment for the City, nor enter into any contract to provide Roods or services to the City. a Amendment 25: Sec. 2.04 Subd. 2. PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT No former Mayor or Councilmember may, within one (1) Year after leaving We position. alpear or'participate in proceedings before the Council representing the interests of private persons. firms, or corporations. In their discussion, the Council objected rather strongly to these amendments and referred them back to the Charter Commission for further discussion. The objections to the amendments are detailed in the re- port I submitted to the commission in April 1980, and a copy is attached to this report. With the cooperation of Commissioner Escher further research began. The Leaque of Minnesota Cities was very cooperative sending copies of various City Charter excerpts and city ordinances from other communities. From these exemples and from ongoing Charter Commission discussions the following amendments were written. May 7, 1980 Amendment 3; Sec. 204 A INCOMPATIBLE OFFICES Subdivision 1; Nomember of the Council shall be appointed City Manager, nor shall any member hold any other paid municipal office or employment for the City; and until one (1) year after the expiration of the members term or the members resignation as Mayor or Council member, no former member shall be appointed to any paid appointed office or employment for the City,, except as provided in Sec. 2.05. Subdivision 2; Except as otherwise permitted by Mn. Statue, no member of the Council shall have any financial interest in contracts for goods or services with the City; and until one (1) year after the expiration of the members term or the member's resignation as Mayor or Councilmember, no former member may have any financial interest in the City contracts for goods and services with the City. Subdivision 3: Except as otherwise permitted by- l-aw,.no member of.the Council shall accept any rebate, gift, money, or anything of value from a person, firm, or corporation to which a contract has been made with the City. AM ndment 25: Sec. 2.04B PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT Subdivision4; No former Mayor or Councilmember may, within one (1) year after leaving the position, appear or participate in proceedings before the Council except to represent the former member's own personal interests as a private citizen of the City of Brooklyn Center. On May 7, 1980 the Charter Commission met to discuss these admendments. After much debate the Commission felt that the present City Council would not accepy amendment 3, subdivision 2 and 3, and that we would have to take Amendment 3 to the voters. It was also pointed out that Amendment 3 could jeopardize all the other amendments submitted by the Charter Commission of which two or three years of study had been done. The Commission then tabled further submittal of Subdivision 2 and 3 to the Council. Commissioner Mik o p inted out that perhaps our language in Amendments 3 would be more approiate in Sec. 12.03 of the Charter. The Commission did submit subdivision 1 of Amendment 3 and Amendment 25 to the City Council and was accepted into the Charter. A new point has surfaced since that meeting. Could we as citizens of the city direct our efforts toward an ordinance that would incorperate the language present in Admendment 3? This would invilve negotiations with the city staff and with the Council. the positive side of this idea is that it would avoid direct confron- tation with the City Manager and the City Council. On the negative half, if the Council should pass such an ordinance a future Council repeat it, whereas a charter change would be more permanent. At present there exists an ordinance detailing offenses for which a city employee may be disciplined. However, this ordinance does not include the City Council, City Manager, Volunteer Fire Dept, nor anyone who serves on the various Advisory Commissions. A copy of this ordinance is included in this report. A decision as to the direction the Charter Commision will follow in this matter probably should be made by the whole Charter Commission at this time. Our Study group will undertake this directive. es cull submitted E nest Erfckson