General Ethical Standards (Chapter 2, Code of Ethics, Article II of the City Code)
General Ethical Standards (Chapter 2, Code of Ethics, Article II of the City Code)
It shall be a breach of ethics to attempt to realize personal gain through public employment with the City of Temple by any conduct inconsistent with proper discharge of the employee's duties.
It shall be a breach of ethics to attempt to influence any public employee of the City to breach the standards of ethical conduct set forth in this code.
It shall be a breach of ethics for any employee of the City to participate directly or indirectly in a procurement when the employee knows that:
- The employee or any member of the employee's immediate family has a financial interest pertaining to the procurement;
- A business or organization in which the employee, or any member of the. employee's immediate family, has a financial interest pertaining to the procurement; or
- Any other person, business, or organization with whom the employee or any member of the employee's immediate family is negotiating or has an arrangement concerning prospective employment is involved in the procurement.
It shall be a breach of ethics to offer, give or agree to give any employee of the City or for any employee of the City to solicit, demand, accept or agree to accept from another person, a gratuity or an offer of employment in connection with any decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, preparation of any part of a program requirement or purchase request, influencing the content of any specification or procurement standard, rendering of advice, investigation, auditing, or in any other advisory capacity in any proceeding or application, request for ruling, determination, claim or controversy, or other particular matter pertaining to any program requirement or a contract or subcontract, or to any solicitation or proposal, therefore, pending before the City.
It shall be a breach of ethics for any payment, gratuity, or offer of employment to be made by or on behalf of a subcontractor under a contract to the prime contractor or higher tier subcontractor for any contract for the City of Temple, or any person associated therewith, as an inducement for the award of a subcontract or order. The prohibition against gratuities and kickbacks prescribed above shall be conspicuously set forth in every contract and solicitation therefore.
It shall be a breach of ethics for any employee or former employee of the City of Temple knowingly to use confidential information for actual or anticipated personal gain, or for the actual or anticipated gain of any person.
No City employee shall purchase supplies, materials or equipment of any kind through the City of Temple or the Purchasing Department for personal use. City employees are strictly prohibited from taking advantage of pricing available to the City from any vendor doing business with the City (including accepting sales tax exemptions on personal goods or services when not intended for City use). This does not apply in cases where vendors have made special pricing available and notice is given to all City employees.
Employees are prohibited from soliciting gifts of merchandise, personal services or gratuities from any supplier, contractor, or others with whom the City does business. Receipt of any gift or entertainment should be such that full public disclosure would not embarrass the employee or the City. Further, such gift or entertainment should be consistent with ethical business practices and of a very limited monetary value so as to not in any way be interpreted as an attempt to buy the recipient's favor in any City business past, present, or future.
Employees may accept unsolicited non-monetary gifts only if they are items of nominal value. This includes advertising and promotional materials such as pens, scratch pads or calendars, but is not necessarily limited to just these examples. If a gift is so personalized or perishable as to make its return impractical, or if its return could constitute an affront to the giver or cause the City embarrassment, the City Manager shall determine the proper disposition.
It shall be a breach of ethics for a City employee to knowingly avoid the competitive bid process by making component, separate or sequential purchases (as those terms are described in Chapter 252 of the Local Government Code) that ordinarily would have been made as a single purchase.