City of Baxley
Article 2-5 Code of Ethics
Section 2-5-1 Intent.
It is essential to the proper administration and operation of the City of Baxley that the members of its Governing Authority be, and give the appearance of being, independent and impartial; that public office not be used for private gain; and that there be public confidence in the integrity of the Governing Authority. The Governing Authority finds that the public interest requires that they protect against such conflicts of interest by establishing appropriate ethical standards with respect to the conduct of the members of the Governing Authority in situations where a conflict may exist.
Section 2-5-2 Definitions.
As used in this Ordinance, the term:
(a) "Complaint" means a written sworn statement filed with the Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem containing specific allegations of misconduct by a member; provided, however, such allegations must be filed within sixty (60) days of discovery of the alleged misconduct.
(b) "Interest" means a pecuniary benefit accruing to a Governing Authority or any member of his/her immediate family as a direct result of any payment received from the City. A Governing Authority or member of his/her immediate family shall be deemed to have directly benefitted from any payment from the city if any such person shall own at least ten percent(10%) of the entity receiving such payment.
(c) "Governing Authority" or "member of the Governing Authority" means the Mayor or any Council member of the City and any member appointed to any Board or Commission of the City.
(d) ?Immediate family members' are the Council Member?s spouse, children, parents, brothers and sisters.
Section 2-5-3 Prohibitions.
No member of the Governing Authority shall:
(a) By conduct give reasonable basis for the impression that any person can improperly influence him/her or unduly enjoy his/her favor in the performance of official acts;
(b) Directly or indirectly request, exact, receive, or agree to receive a gift, loan, favor, promise, or thing of value for him/herself or another person if it could reasonably be considered to influence the member in the discharge of official duties;
(c) Disclose or otherwise use confidential information acquired by virtue of his/her official position for his/her or another person's private gain; (d)Use his/her official position to attempt to secure privileges that are not available to the general public;
(e) Engage in, accept employment with, or render services for any private business or professional activity when such employment or rendering of services is adverse to and incompatible with the proper discharge of official duties;
(f) Engage in any activity or transaction that is prohibited by law now existing or hereafter enacted which is applicable to him/her by virtue of being a member of the Governing Authority;
(g) Use his/her position to request or require an employee to:
(1) Do clerical work on behalf of the member's family, business, social, church or fraternal interest when such work is not furthering a City interest;
(2) Perform any work outside the employee's normal course of municipal employment;
(3) Purchase goods or services to be used for personal, business, or political purposes; and
(4) Work for the member personally without paying the employee just compensation;
(h) Use government property of any kind for other than officially approved activities, nor shall he/she direct employees to use such property for any purposes other than those officially approved;
(i) Use his/her position in any way to coerce, or give the appearance of coercing, another person to provide any financial benefit to himself/herself or persons having an interest.
Prohibition (b) of this Section shall not apply in the case of:
(1) An occasional non-pecuniary gift of insignificant value;
(2) An award publicly presented in recognition of public service;
(3) A commercially reasonable loan or other financial transaction made in the ordinary course of business by an institution or individual authorized by the laws of Georgia to engage in the making of such a loan or financial transaction;
(4)Campaign contributions made and reported in accordance with Georgia law.
Prohibition (e) of this section shall not apply to a member of the Governing Authority who is a licensed professional and appears on behalf of any applicant in such professional capacity so long as disclosures required by Section 2-5-4 are made to the Board or Commission Chairperson 30 days prior to any action being taken, and the member is associated with the project at the time the initial application is filed.
Section 2-5-4 Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest.
An appointed member of the Governing Authority who has an interest that he/she has reason to believe may be affected by his/her official acts or actions or by the official acts or actions of the Governing Authority shall disclose the precise nature of such interest by written or verbal statement 10 days prior to, if possible, but always before the Governing Authority's taking official action on a matter affecting such interest and abstain from discussion and voting. An elected member of the Governing Authority shall disclose the nature of any interest he/she has at the time such matter is presented to Mayor and Council for discussion. Such written or verbal statements shall be recorded into the minutes of the meeting and thus become part of the public record. Following any disclosure made pursuant to this section, the member shall refrain from all ex-parte communications with other members regarding the application in which he/she has an interest.
Section 2-5-5 Disqualification.
A member of the Governing Authority shall disqualify himself/herself from participating in any official act or action of the City which results in a pecuniary benefit to the member or a business or activity in which he/she has an interest, when such benefit is not available to the public at large.
