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HomeMy WebLinkAbout19 GIFT BAN ORD. 07-05-94NO. 19 7-5-94 in t e r- C o.m DATE' JUNE 28, 1994 TO- FROM- SUBJECT: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL WILLIAM A. HUSTON, CITY MANAGER GIFT BAN ORDINANCE City Councilmember Doyle requested that the attached ordinance be discussed by the City Council. The ordinance is essentially the same gift ban ordinance enacted by the County of Orange. After adoption of a gift ban ordinance, it will be necessary to amend the City's existing conflict of interest code to conform with the gift ban ordinance. The conflict of interest code applies to designated City employees and members of Commissions and Committees. The conflict of interest code would need to be amended to ensure that its provisions are consistent with the gift ban ordinance and make clear that the gift ban applies .to all City employees (i.e. not jUst employees currently designated in the conflict of interest code). Since the gift ban ordinance is in draft form, it will be necessary to resubmit it to the City Council for introduction and adoption once a decision is made concerning its final provisions. gi ftban.ord ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF TUSTIN ADDING NEW CHAPTER TO TITLE OF THE TUSTIN MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO THE DONATION AND RECEIPT OF SPECIFIED GIFTS TO PUBLIC OFFICIALS The city Council of the City of Tustin does hereby ordain as follows: Section I. That Chapter be, and the same is hereby added to Title of the Tustin Municipal Code, to read as follows: CHAPTER GIFTS TO PUBLIC OFFICIALS Section X.XX.010. Purpose; Meaning of Terms; Interpretation; Citation. The City Council finds that the receipt of gifts by public officials from persons who do business with the City erodes public confidence in the impartiality of decisions made by those officials. The purpose of this Ordinance is to prohibit the donation and receipt of specified gifts, thereby eliminating, to the extent possible, such loss of confidence. Unless otherwise expressly defined, the terms used in this Ordinance shall have the same meaning as defined in the California Political Reform Act (Title 9 of the California Government Code) and regulations issued by the Fair Political Practices Commission pursuant to the authority of the Political Reform Act, as the Act and regulations shall be, from time to time, amended. This Chapter shall be known as, and may be cited as, the "Tustin Gift Ban Ordinance". Section X.XX.020. Definitions. For the purposes of this Chapter: (a) "City" means the City of Tustin. (b) "City officer" means every person who is elected or appointed to an office in the City which is specified in Section 87200 of the California Government Code. (c) "Designated employee" means every employee of the City wh° is designated in the City's Conflict of Interest Code to file a statement of economic interests and every member of a board or commission under the jurisdiction of the City Council required to file such a statement. (d) "Doing business with the City" means: (1) seeking the award of a contract or grant from the City, or (2) having sought the award of a contract or grant from the City in the past 12 months, or (3) being engaged as a lobbyist or lobbyist firm, as defined in this Section, from the time of such engagement until 12 months after the award of the contract, grant, license, permit, or other entitlement for use, which was the subject of the engagement, or (4) having an existing contractual relationship with the City, until 12 months after the contractual obligations of all parties have been completed, or (5) seeking, actively supporting, or actively opposing the issuance, by the City, of a license, permit, or other entitlement for use, or having done any of these things within the past 12 months. (e) "Gift" shall have the meaning it is defined to have in the California Political Reform Act, and the regulations issued pursuant to that Act, which reads as follows: "82028. Gift" (a) "Gift" means, except as provided in subdivision (b), any payment to the extent that consideration of equal or greater value is not received and includes a rebate or discount in the price of anything of value unless the rebate or discount is made in the regular course of business to members of the public without regard to official status. Any persons, other than a defendant in a criminal action, who claims that a payment is not a gift by reason of receipt of consideration has the burden of proving that the consideration received is of equal or greater value. (b) The term "gift" does not include' (1) Informational material such as books, reports, pamphlets, calendars, or periodicals. No payment for travel or reimbursement for any expenses shall be deemed "informational material". (2) Gifts which are not used and which, within 30 days after receipt, are returned to the donor or delivered to a charitable organization without being claimed as a charitable contribution for tax purposes. (3) .Gifts from an individual's spouse, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, parent-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, nephew, niece, aunt, uncle or first cousin or the spouse of any such person; provided that a gift from any such person shall be considered a gift if the donor is acting as an agent or intermediary for any person not covered by this paragraph. (4) Campaign contributions required to be reported under Chapter 4 of this title. (5) Any devise or inheritance. (6) Personalized plaques and trophies with an individual value of less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250). The following items shall be deemed to be additional exceptions to the definition of "Gift": (1) Food, beverages, and free admission at any event sponsored by, or for the benefit of, a bona fide educational, academic, or charitable organization, and commemorative gifts from such organizations with a cumulative value of $50.00 or less during any 12 month period. (2) Food, beverages, and free admission provided by a governmental agency at ceremonial functions commemorating the opening or naming of a public facility. (3) Food and beverage such as coffee, donuts, etc., with a unit value of less than $2.00. (4) Flowers, plants, balloons or similar tokens which are given to express condolences, congratulations, or sympathy for ill health, or to commemorate special occasions, provided that gifts made or received under this exemption shall not exceed a value of $50.00 from any single source in any calendar year. (5) A prize awarded on the basis of chance in a bona fide competition not related to the official status of the public official. (6) Gifts from any agency of a foreign sovereign nation, provided that such gifts are unconditionally donated by the public official to the within 45 days of receipt, and the public official does not claim any tax deduction by virtue of such donation. (f) "Lobbyist" shall mean any individual, including an attorney, who is employed or contracts for consideration, other than reimbursement of reasonable travel expenses, to communicate directly with any City officer or staff member of a City Council member for the purpose of seeking, actively supporting, or actively opposing the award of a contract or grant from the City, or the issuance, by the City, of a license, permit, or other entitlement for use. An attorney shall not be considered a lobbyist when performing activities which can only be performed by a person admitted to the practice of law. (g) "Lobbyist firm" shall mean (1) any business entity, which is employed or contracts for consideration, other than reimbursement of Gravel expenses, to communicate directly with a City officer or staff member of a City Council member for the purpose of seeking, actively supporting or actively opposing the award of a contract or grant from the City, or the issuance, by the City, of a license, ~ permit, or other entitlement for use, or (2) any business entity of which any member or employee is a lobbyist. (h) "Principal" shall mean any individual or business entity which employs or contracts with a lobbyist or lobbyist firm for any of the purposes stated in Section X.XX.020(f) or Section X.XX.020(g). (i) An individual or business entity shall be deemed to be employed or contracting to communicate directly with a City officer or staff member of a City Council member if it is reasonably foreseeable that in the course of employment or in the course of performing the' contract the individual or an employee of the entity will have a telephone conversation or a discussion with any City officer or staff member, outside of any meeting governed by the Ralph M. Brown Act (which is codified in the California Government Code commencing with Section 54950), for the purpose of seeking, actively supporting, or actively opposing the award of a contract or grant from the City, or the issuance, by the City, of a license, permit, or other entitlement for use. (j) An individual lobbyist who is an officer, partner or employee of his or her principal shall be deemed to be "engaged" within the meaning of this Section on the first occasion on which he or she engages in a telephone conversation or discussion described in Section X.XX.020(i). A lobbyist firm, or an individual lobbyist who is not an officer, partner or employee of his or her principal shall be deemed to be "engaged" within the meaning of this Section upon the completion of an agreement, oral or written, to provide the services specified in Section X.Xx.020(f) or Section X.Xx.020(g). (k) "Public official" means every City. officer and every designated employee. Section X.Xx. 030. Prohibitions. (a) No person who is doing business with the City shall make any gift to any City officer. (b) No person who is doing business with the City shall make any gift to any designated employee, who, by virtue of his City employment, could make a governmental decision, participate in making~ a governmental decision, or use his or her official position to influence a governmental decision regarding the pending business of the donor, or who has done any of the above during the 12 months preceding the donation. (c) No City officer shall solicit or accept .any gift from any person who he knows, or has reason to know, is doing business ~ith the City. (d) No designated employee shall solicit or accept any gift from any person who he knows, or has reason to know, is doing business with the City, when such employee by virtue of his City employment, could make a governmental decision, participate in making a governmental decision, or use his or her official position to influence a governmental decision regarding the pending business of the donor, or has done any of the above during the 12 months preceding the donation. (e) No public official shall accept any gift when the identify of the donor is not known to the public official. (f) No public official shall accept any honoraria. Section X.XX.040. Violations and Enforcement. (a) Any Cisy officer who violates Section X.XX.030 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. (b) Any designated employee who violates Section X.XX.030 shall be subject to discipline for such violation, including, in appropriate cases, termination of employment. (c) Any member of any City board or commission, other than a board or commission established by the Constitution or a statute of the State of California, who violates Section X.XX.030, shall be subject to removal from office. (d) Any person who violates Section X.XX.030(a) or Section X.XX.030(b) shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. (e) These enforcement provisions are in lieu of the penalty provided in Section , are cumulative, and are not mutually exclusive. Section X.Xx.050. Effective Date. The provisions of this Chapter shall become effective on , 1994. Section II. A summary of this Ordinance shall be published and a certified copy of the full text of this Ordinance shall be posted in the Office of the City Clerk at least five (5) days prior to the City Council meeting at which this Ordinance is to be adopted. A summary'of this Ordinance shall also be published once within fifteen (15) days after this Ordinance's passage in the , a newspaper of general circulation published, and circulated in the City of Tustin. The City Clerk shall post in the Office of the City Clerk a copy of the full text of such adopted Ordinance along with the names of those City Council members voting for and against the Ordinance in accordance with Government Code Section 36933. This Ordinance shall become effective on , 1994. ADOPTED this day of , 1994. ATTEST: Mayor of the City of Tustin Mary Wynn City Clerk of the City of Tustin STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF ORANGE ) CITY OF TUSTIN ) I, MARY WYNN, City Clerk of the City of Tustin, California, do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance was introduced at the regular meeting of the city Council held on the day of ~, 1994, was duly passed and adopted.by the following vote, to wit: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS' ABSENT:~ COUNCIL MEMBERS: Mary Wynn City Clerk of the City of Tustin