Okaloosa County BOCC — January 18, 2013 — reading text

performance of his or her public duties to the county or municipality as applicable; and c. the employee or relative of the employee has not participated in determining the subject contract requirements or awarding the contract; and d. the employee's job responsibilities and job description will not require him or her to be involved in the outside employer's contract in any way including, but limited to, its enforcement, oversight, administration, amendment, extension, termination or forbearance; and 5|Page Packet Pg. 314  8.1.e e. the employee demonstrates compliance with applicable merit rules regarding outside employment and obtains written permission from his or her supervisor; and f. The employee has obtained a conflict of interest waiver from the chief administrative officer and the employee’s department head of the county or municipality based on a finding that no conflict exists. The employee shall submit the request for waiver in writing and under oath. The request for the waiver shall be signed by the employee under oath or affirmation on an approved form provided by the Commission on Ethics. The document shall contain written acknowledgment of compliance with the provisions of (5)a. through (5)e. of this subsection, together with such pertinent facts and relevant documents that support such waiver. A waiver under this subsection must be approved by both the employee’s supervisor and chief administrative officer of the county or municipality. The county or municipality shall record such waiver in the employee’s personnel file and shall submit a Attachment: Palm Beach County Ethics.pdf (1256 : Ethics Ordinance) copy of the waiver and all related documents to the commission on ethics. The commission on ethics in its discretion may elect to review, comment on, or investigate any waiver. The commission on ethics review or investigation shall not delay an employee’s ability to take the part time employment. g. Official law enforcement overtime or extra duty details. The provisions of subsection (d) shall be waived for outside employment when that employment consists of a certified police agency uniformed external security or extra duty detail, contracted or administered by the police agency as applicable. For the purpose of this subsection, all records of external, extra duty or overtime security details, including supervisor approval, identity of contracting parties, and including time, date and manner of detail shall be maintained by the individual contracting police agency, records of which shall be accessible to the public subject to state public records disclosure exemptions. (f) Accepting travel expenses. No official or employee shall accept, directly or indirectly, any travel expenses including, but not limited to, transportation, lodging, meals, registration fees and incidentals from any county or municipal contractor, vendor, service provider, bidder or proposer as applicable. The board of county commissioners or local municipal governing body as applicable may waive the requirements of this subsection by a majority vote of the board or local municipal governing body. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to travel expenses paid by other governmental entities or by organizations of which the county or municipality as applicable is a member if the travel is related to that membership. (g) Contingent fee prohibition. No person shall, in whole or in part, pay, give or agree to pay or give a contingency fee to another person. No person shall, in whole or in part, receive or agree to receive a contingency fee. As used herein, "contingency fee" means a fee, bonus, commission, or nonmonetary benefit as compensation which is dependent on or in any way contingent on the passage, defeat, or modification of: an ordinance, resolution, action or decision of the board of county commissioners or local municipal governing body as applicable, any employee authorized to act on behalf of the board of county commissioners or local municipal governing body as applicable, the county administrator or municipal administrator as applicable, or any action or decision of an advisory board or committee. This prohibition does not apply to real estate brokers when acting in the course of their profession as regulated by §§475.001- 475.5018, Florida Statutes, as may be amended. Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit any salesperson from engaging in legitimate government business on behalf of a company from receiving compensation or commission as part of a bona fide contractual arrangement with that company provided such compensation or commission is ordinary and customary in the industry. Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit an attorney 6|Page Packet Pg. 315  8.1.e from representing a client in a judicial proceeding or formal administrative hearing pursuant to a contingent fee arrangement. (h) Honesty in applications for positions. No person seeking to become an official or employee, or seeking to enter into a contract to provide goods or services to the county or municipality as applicable, may make any false statement, submit any false document, or knowingly withhold information about wrongdoing in connection with employment by or services to the county or municipality as applicable. (i) Disclosure or use of certain information. A current or former official or employee shall not disclose or use information not available to members of the general public and gained by reason of his or her official position, except for information relating exclusively to governmental practices, for his or her personal gain or benefit or for the personal gain or benefit of any other person. Attachment: Palm Beach County Ethics.pdf (1256 : Ethics Ordinance) Sec. 2-444. Gift law. (a) (1) No county commissioner, member of a local governing body, mayor or chief executive when not a member of the governing body, or employee, or any other person or business entity on his or her behalf, shall knowingly solicit or accept directly or indirectly, any gift with a value of greater than one hundred dollars ($100) in the aggregate for the calendar year from any person or business entity that the recipient knows, or should know with the exercise of reasonable care, is a vendor, lobbyist or any principal or employer of a lobbyist who lobbies, sells or leases to the county or municipality as applicable. (2) No lobbyist, vendor or principal or employer of a lobbyist that lobbies the county or a municipality shall knowingly give, directly or indirectly, any gift with a value greater than one hundred dollars ($100) in the aggregate for the calendar year to a person who the vendor, lobbyist, or principal knows is an official or employee of that county or municipality. For the purposes of this subsection 2-444(a)(2), the term vendor also includes any person or entity that, because of the nature of their business, may respond to an invitation to bid, request for proposal or other procurement opportunity that has been published by the county or a municipality. (b) (1) No advisory board member, or any other person on his or her behalf, shall knowingly solicit or accept directly or indirectly, any gift with a value of greater than one hundred dollars ($100) in the aggregate for the calendar year from any vendor, lobbyist, or any principal or employer of a lobbyist, who lobbies the recipient's advisory board, or any county or municipal department as applicable that is subject in any way to the advisory board's authority. (2) No lobbyist, vendor, or principal or employer of a lobbyist who lobbies an advisory board or any county or municipal department that is subject in any way to the advisory board’s authority, influence or advice, shall knowingly give, directly or indirectly, any gift with a value greater than one hundred dollars ($100) in the aggregate for the calendar year to a person who the vendor, lobbyist, or principal knows is a member of that advisory board. For the purposes of this subsection 2-444(b)(2), the term vendor also includes any person or entity that, because of the nature of their business, may respond to an invitation to bid, request for proposal or other procurement opportunity that has been published by the county or a municipality. (c) No county commissioner, member of a local governing body, mayor or chief executive officer when not a member of the governing body, or employee, or any other person or business entity on his or her behalf, shall knowingly solicit a gift of any value from any person or business entity that the recipient knows is a vendor, lobbyist or any principal or employer of a lobbyist where the gift is for the personal benefit of the official or employee, another official or employee, or any relative or household member of the official or employee. No advisory board member or 7|Page Packet Pg. 316  8.1.e any other person or business entity on his or her behalf, shall knowingly solicit a gift of any value from any person or business entity that the recipient knows is a vendor, lobbyist or any principal or employer of a lobbyist who lobbies the recipient’s advisory board, or any county or municipal department as applicable that is subject in any way to the advisory board’s authority, influence or advice, where the gift is for the personal benefit of the advisory board member, another advisory board member, or an official, or any relative or household member of the official or employee. (d) For purposes of this section, a principal or employer of a lobbyist shall include any officer, partner or director of the principal entity, or any employee of a principal who is not an officer, partner or director, provided that the employee knows or should know with the exercise of reasonable care that the principal employs a lobbyist. (e) No person or entity shall offer, give, or agree to give an official or employee a gift, and no official