Model Code

Areas to check:

1. Using office for private gain
2. using organization resources for personal purposes
3. soliciting gifts or accepting gifts from persons doing business with the organization
4. seeking or accepting private compensation for doing one's work (gratuities)
5. soliciting political contributions or political activity from subordinates
6. disclosure of confidential organization information or using this information for private purposes
7. appearing before organization agencies on behalf of private interests or representing private

How to use the Federal Sentencing Guidelines (FSG) to establish or strengthen ethics programs

Purposes of the FSG:

a) Prevent and detect criminal conduct and b) Promote an ethical culture

A former chancellor of Maricopa Community College in Phoenix, Arizona continued to work for the college on contract, while also having a business on the side that did business with the college on a no-bid basis. The business was set up by the college when he was chancellor and was given to him a few months after he retired. The former chancellor denies any conflict of interest because his business (Sedona Conferences and Conversations, which does business with colleges around the world) is not always profitable. 'If I were really crazy about making money, I wouldn't be doing Sedona.

This is the place to discuss negotiating with unions regarding penalties that apply to their municipal employee members. This is a sensitive area, where open discussion could be especially helpful to preventing friction by considering union perspectives and requirements as part of the process of preparating or amending an ethics code.

Some municipalities limit some provisions to certain officials, so that, for instance, employees do not have to go through the same level of annual disclosure as officials do, or only officials and employees dealing with contracts, development, zoning, etc. need file annual disclosure forms. This is the place to discuss different levels of application of an ethics code's provisions to different levels and types of official and employee.

This is the place to share your experiences with and thoughts about problems faced in passing or improving municipal ethics codes, and possible solutions to these problems.

This is the place to discuss additional conflict of interest provisions. Below are some comments added at the end of 100, but there are several more such provisions that can be found in ethics codes. What are your thoughts about and experiences with other conflict provisions?

False statements are a means of unfairly manipulating a situation in one's own favor. Please share your thoughts about this problem and your experiences with attempts to solve it through an ethics code or otherwise.

100(21). Honesty in Applications for Positions

No person seeking to become an official or employee,* consultant* or contractor may make any false statement, submit any false document, or knowingly withhold information about wrongdoing in connection with employment by or service for the city.

Many officials face a conflict every evening they have a meeting scheduled: between their obligation to attend a meeting of a board they sit on and their desire to do one of a number of different things. Many officials choose something else often enough that it has an effect on the board's effectiveness. Please share your thoughts about this provision, and your experiences with problems involving meeting attendance and various attempts to deal with these problems.

100(20).