Okaloosa County BOCC — January 18, 2013 — Palm Beach County Ethics — reading text

CODE OF ETHICS (Effective date June 1, 2011) Sec. 2-441. Title; statement of purpose. This article shall be known as the Palm Beach County Code of Ethics. This code of ethics is enacted pursuant to Florida Constitution, Article VIII, Section 1(g), Florida Statutes, ch. 125, and the Charter of Palm Beach County. The Municipalities located within Palm Beach County are subject to the provisions of this Code of Ethics pursuant to referendum. The purpose of this code is to provide additional and more stringent ethics standards as authorized by Florida Statutes, §112.326. This code shall not be construed to authorize or permit any conduct or activity that is in violation of Florida Statutes, ch. 112, pt. III. This code of ethics shall be deemed additional and supplemental to any and all state and federal laws governing ethical conduct of officials and employees, as well as all local laws, rules, regulations and policies. Officials and employees in the public service shall be conscious that public service is a public trust, shall be impartial and devoted to the best interests of the people of Palm Beach County, and shall act and conduct themselves so as not to give occasion for distrust of their impartiality. Nothing herein shall abridge employees' constitutional right to collective bargaining. Sec. 2-442. Definitions. The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning: Advisory board shall mean any advisory or quasi-judicial board created by the board of county commissioners, by the local municipal governing bodies, or by the mayors who serve as chief executive officers or by mayors who are not members of local municipal governing bodies. Customer or client means any person or entity to which an official or employee's outside employer or business has supplied goods or services during the previous twenty-four (24) months, having, in the aggregate, a value greater than ten thousand dollars ($10,000). Domestic partner is an adult, unrelated by blood, with whom an unmarried or separated official or employee has an exclusive committed relationship and maintains a mutual residence. Financial benefit includes any money, service, license, permit, contract, authorization, loan, travel, entertainment, hospitality, gratuity, or any promise of any of these, or anything else of value. This term does not include campaign contributions authorized by law. Household Member includes anyone whose primary residence is in the official or employee's home, including non-relatives who are not rent payers or employees of the head of the household. Inspector general shall mean the office established in article XII of this chapter. 1|Page Lobbying shall mean seeking to influence a decision through oral or written communication or an attempt to obtain the goodwill of any county commissioner, any member of a local municipal governing body, any mayor or chief executive officer that is not a member of a local municipal governing body, any advisory board member, or any employee with respect to the passage, defeat or modification of any item which may foreseeably be presented for consideration to the advisory board, the board of county commissioners, or the local municipal governing body lobbied as applicable. Lobbyist shall mean any person who is employed and receives payment, or who contracts for economic consideration, for the purpose of lobbying on behalf of a principal, and shall include an employee whose principal responsibility to the employer is overseeing the employer's various relationships with government or representing the employer in its contacts with government. "Lobbyist" shall not include: (1) any employee, contract employee, or independent contractor of a governmental agency or entity lobbying on behalf of that agency or entity, any elected local official when the official is lobbying on behalf of the governmental agency or entity which the official serves, or any member of the official's staff when such staff member is lobbying on an occasional basis on behalf of the governmental agency or entity by which the staff member is employed. (2) any person who is retained or employed for the purpose of representing an employer, principal or client only during a publicly noticed quasi-judicial hearing or comprehensive plan hearing, provided the person identifies the employer, principal or client at the hearing. (3) any expert witness who is retained or employed by an employer, principal or client to provide only scientific, technical or other specialized information provided in agenda materials or testimony only in public hearings, so long as the expert identifies the employer, principal or client at the hearing. (4) any person who lobbies only in his or her individual capacity for the purpose of self- representation and without compensation. (5) any employee, contract employee, or independent contractor of the Palm Beach County League of Cities, Inc., lobbying on behalf of that entity. Official or employee means any official or employee of the county or the municipalities located within the county, whether paid or unpaid. The term “employee” includes but is not limited to all managers, department heads and personnel of the county or the municipalities located within the county. The term also includes contract personnel and contract administrators performing a government function, and chief executive officer who is not part of the local governing body. The term "official" shall mean members of the board of county commissioners, a mayor, members of local municipal governing bodies, and members appointed by the board of county commissioners, members of local municipal governing bodies or mayors or chief executive officers that are not members of local municipal governing body, as applicable, to serve on any advisory, quasi judicial, or any other board of the county, state, or any other regional, local, municipal, or corporate entity. Outside employer or business includes: (1) Any entity, other than the county, the state, or any other federal regional, local, or municipal government entity, of which the official or employee is a member, official, director, proprietor, partner, or employee, and from which he or she receives compensation for services rendered or goods sold or produced. For purposes of this definition, "compensation" does not include reimbursement for necessary expenses, including travel expenses; or (2) Any entity located in the county or which does business with or is regulated by the county or municipality as applicable, in which the official or employee has an ownership interest. For 2|Page  purposes of this definition, an "ownership interest" shall mean at least five (5) percent of the total assets or common stock owned by the official or employee or any combination of the official or employee's household members, spouse, child, step-child, brother, sister, parent or step-parent, or a person claimed as a dependent on the official or employee’s latest individual federal tax return. (3) The term outside employer or business shall not apply to an employee who is employed by a certified bargaining agent solely to represent employees. Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics means the commission established in §2-254 et seq. to administer and enforce the ethics regulations set forth herein, and may also be referred to as the "commission on ethics" in this article. Persons and entities shall be defined to include all natural persons, firms, associations, joint ventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business entities, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other organizations. Relative unless otherwise specified in this ordinance, means an individual who is related to an official or employee as father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, grandparent, great grandparent, grandchild, great grandchild, step grandparent, step great grandparent, step grandchild, step great grandchild, person who is engaged to be married to the official or employee or who otherwise holds himself or herself out as or is generally known as the person whom the official or employee intends to marry or with whom the official or employee intends to form a household, or any other natural person having the same legal residence as the official or employee. Transaction shall refer to the purchase or sale by the county or municipality of goods or services for a consideration. Vendor means any person or entity who has a pending bid proposal, an offer or request to sell goods or services, sell or lease real or personal property, or who currently sells goods or services, or sells or leases real or personal property, to the county or municipality involved in the subject contract or transaction as applicable. For the purposes of this definition a vendor entity includes an owner, director, manager or employee. Sec. 2-443. Prohibited conduct. (a) Misuse of public office or employment. An official or employee shall not use his or her official position or office, or take or fail to take any action, or influence others to take or fail to take any action, in a manner which he or she knows or should know with the exercise of reasonable care will result in a special financial benefit, not shared with similarly situated members of the general public, for any of the following persons or entities: (1) Himself or herself; (2) His or her spouse or domestic partner, household member or persons claimed as dependents on the official or employee’s latest individual federal income tax return, or the employer or business of any of these people; (3) A sibling or step-sibling, child or step-child, parent or step-parent, niece or nephew, uncle or aunt, or grandparent or grandchild of either himself or herself, or of his or her spouse or domestic partner, or the employer or business of any of these people; 3|Page  (4) An outside employer or business of his or hers, or of his or her spouse or domestic partner, or someone who is known to such official or employee to work for such outside employer or business; (5) A customer or client of the official or employee’s outside employer or business; (6) A substantial debtor or creditor of his or hers, or of his or her spouse or domestic partner-- "substantial" for these purposes shall mean at least ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and shall not include forms of indebtedness, such as a mortgage and note, or a loan between the official or employee and a financial institution; (7) A civic group, union, social, charitable, or religious organization, or other not for profit organization of which he or she (or his or her spouse or domestic partner) is an officer or director. (b) Corrupt misuse of official position. An official or employee shall not use his or her official position or office, or any property or resource which may be within his or her trust, to corruptly secure or attempt to secure a special