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Home My WebLink About109 - 08/20/2002 - AMENDING THE CITY CODE PERTAINING TO ETHICAL RULES OF CONDUCT ORDINANCE NO. 109, 2002 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS AMENDING SECTION 2-568 OF THE CITY CODE PERTAINING TO ETHICAL RULES OF CONDUCT WHEREAS, Section 2-568 of the City Code contains various rules of conduct governing officers and employees of the City; and WHEREAS, certain questions of interpretation have arisen with regard to such provisions, and the City Council believes it to be in the best interest of the City to amend Section 2-568 of the City Code so as to eliminate any ambiguity with regard to its provisions; and WHEREAS, in particular, the City Council wishes to: • clarify that a member of the City Council is an "officer or employee" of the City within the meaning of Section 2-568 who is subject to the ethical rules of conduct contained therein; • add a definition of "confidential information" to Section 2-568 so as to clarify the kind of information that should be considered to be confidential; • specify the circumstances under which information received in confidence can be disclosed by an officer or employee of the City; • state that an alleged violation of Section 2-568(b)(1)by a member of the City Council should be reviewed by the City Council's Ethics Review Board rather than being prosecuted in Municipal Court as a misdemeanor criminal violation of the Code;and • add a provision allowing a majority of the Council,by a two-thirds vote,to determine whether a Councilmember has a conflict of interest for confidentiality purposes. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That Section 2-568(a)(3) of the City Code should be amended so that the definition of"officer or employee" contained therein shall read in its entirety as follows: (3) Officer or employee shall mean any person holding a position by election, appointment or employment in the service of the city,whether part-time or full-time, including any member of the City Council and any member of any authority,board, committee or commission of the city. Section 2. That Section 2-568 of the City Code should be further amended so as to include a new subparagraph (a)(2) which shall read in its entirety as follows, with the existing subparagraphs (a)(2) and (a)(3) to be renumbered as (a)(3) and (a)(4) accordingly: (2) Confidential information or information received in confidence shall mean: a. Information contained in any writing that may properly be withheld from public inspection under the provisions of the Colorado Open Records Act and that is marked"confidential" when provided to the officer or employee; b. All information discussed in any executive session properly convened under §§ 2-31 or 2-71 of the Code, except to the extent that such information is also contained in a document that has been made available to the general public by a person properly authorized to do so; or C. All communications between attorneys representing the city and officers or employees of the city that are subject to the attorney-client privilege, whether oral or written, unless the privilege has been waived. Section 3. That Section 2-568(b)(1)of the City Code is hereby amended so as to read in its entirety as follows: (b) Rules of conduct. (1) Use and disclosure of confidential information. The following rules shall apply to the use and disclosure of confidential information by officers and employees of the city. In the event of any conflict among these provisions, the more specific provision shall take precedence over the more general provision. a. No use for personal gain. An officer or employee shall not use information received in confidence as an officer or employee to advance the financial or personal interests of the officer or employee or others. b. Disclosure of confidential information, generally. No confidential information shall be disclosed by an officer or employee to any person who is not an officer or employee or to an officer or employee whose official duties are unrelated to the subject matter of the confidential information unless such disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the city from the gross mismanagement of public funds, the abuse of governmental authority, or illegal or unethical practices. C. Disclosure of confidential information provided to the City Council. All information received in confidence by the City Council shall remain confidential and shall not be disclosed to any person to whom such information was not originally distributed by city staff unless and until the City Council has, by majority vote, consented to its release, unless such disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the city from the gross mismanagement of public funds, the abuse of governmental authority, or illegal or unethical practices. d. Disclosure of information discussed in executive session. Confidential information discussed in an executive session of the City Council,or of a City Council committee,shall not be disclosed to any officer or employee or other person who was not present during such discussion without the prior knowledge and consent of the City Council, except to Councilmembers who were unable to attend such executive session, unless such disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the city from the gross mismanagement of public funds, the abuse of governmental authority, or illegal or unethical practices. e. Certain distribution and discussion by City Manager and City Attorney permitted. Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraphs(iii)and(iv)above,the City Manager and City Attorney may further distribute confidential information provided to the City Council and may disclose confidential information discussed in any executive session of the City Council, or of a City Council committee, to such staff members and/or board and commission members as they may consider reasonably necessary to enable them to fully advise the City Council or to implement any direction given by the City Council or to advise other officers and employees of the City whose duties are related to the subject matter of the confidential information. f. No disclosure of confidential information to officer or employee having conflict of interest. No officer or employee who has filed a statement of conflict of interest with the City Clerk under Article IV, § 9 of the Charter, or who has been determined by the City Council under the provisions of subparagraph g. below to have a conflict of interest, shall knowingly elicit, accept or inspect any confidential information pertaining to the subject matter of such conflict of interest, nor shall any such officer or employee attend or participate in an executive session of the City Council, or of a City Council committee or board or commission of the city, pertaining to said subject matter. g. The City Council may determine that a Councilmember shall not receive confidential information or attend executive sessions on a particular topic if the City Council first determines that said Councilmember has a conflict of interest in the subject matter of such confidential information and/or executive session. Any such determination by the City Council shall be made only after the City Council has received an advisory opinion and recommendation of the Ethics Review Board on the question,rendered in accordance with the provisions of Section 2-569. Section 4. That Section 2-568 of the City Code is hereby further amended to the addition of a new subparagraph(b)which shall read in its entirety as follows,with the existing subparagraph (b), as amended herein in Section 3 above, to be relettered as subparagraph (c): (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of§ 1-15 of the Code, an alleged violation of the provisions of this Section by a member of the City Council shall not be prosecuted in the Municipal Court as a misdemeanor criminal offense but shall instead be referred to the Ethics Review Board for an advisory opinion and recommendation under the provisions of§ 2-569. Introduced and considered favorably on first reading and ordered published this 16th day of July, A.D. 2002, and to be presented for final passage on the 20th day,of August, A.D. 2002. Mayor A TEST: City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading this 20th day of August, A.D. 2002. ayor - ATTEST: City Clerk