HRAR-11.01 - Statement of Ethical Conduct

General

City employees are to treat their office as a public trust. As one safeguard for that trust, employees must conform to the ethical standards described in the state code of ethics and conduct themselves in a manner that is consistent with the City’s Code of Ethics. Keeping the following principles in mind will help employees avoid an ethics problem.

Employees are not permitted to receive a personal financial gain or avoid financial detriment that would not otherwise be available but for their position as a public employee.

Employees are expected to recognize the possibility of a potential or actual conflict of interest they may have and disclose the conflict, in writing, to their supervisor and Bureau director. The supervisor or Bureau director shall acknowledge the potential or actual conflict in writing and determine whether such conflict can be resolved if appropriate. A copy of the disclosure and subsequent acknowledgement shall be placed in the Bureau personnel file.

Employees are expected to conduct themselves in a manner to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Conduct that could appear dishonest to a reasonable observer will undermine the public trust even if the conduct is not illegal.

Employees are expected to report conduct that is unethical to their supervisor or bureau director or to the Bureau of Human Resources or the Office of the Ombudsman or to the Auditor’s Fraud Hotline. See also, HRAR 11.03 Duty to Report Unlawful or Improper Actions.

The standards set out in this rule create a higher standard of conduct than created by state law.