04/22/2010 Special Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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1. "City official" means any elected official, employee, appointee to a board commission, or citizen volunteer authorized to act on behalf of the City a Oregon. The Code of Ethics is intended to apply to everyone. However, specifi~ group~ such as employees or elected officials may be mentioned in some examples. 2. "Ethics" means positive principles of conduct. Some ethical requi emeni enforced by federal, state, or local law. Others rely on training, or n inc desire to do the right thing. The provisions of this chapter which a e not enforced by law shall be considered advisory only. The Code of Ethics is not intended to legislate morality, but rather to c nvey g neral expectations of appropriate conduct. It is included in City Code to m e it eas to find, and to emphasize the seriousness of Council's intent. Just because an action is legal does not necessarily mean it is right or ood. Si ilarly, not every action that is wrong needs to be punished under the law. The rol of ethi s is particularly to question those actions which are neither prohibited nor equire by law. In this pamphlet, the applicable laws are summarized in the boxes adjace t to the explanatory text. If no law is indicated for a numbered subsection, its rovisio s are only advisory. 1.03.020 Trust. The purpose of City government is to serve the public. City officials treat thei office s a public trust. City officials have special powers, along with a special obligation to act only n beha of the public. {ORS Chapter 244 declares public office a public trust, prohibits certain actio s, and rovide; dards d penalties. An explanatory guide is available from the Oregon Government St 7 7 Practices Commission. } 1. The City's powers and resources are to be used for the benefit of than any official's personal benefit. To function effectively, the City needs the public's respect and confi will be used on behalf of the community as a whole. In this context, doubly wrong: a selfish decision is not only wrong in itself, but also violates the public's trust in government. 2. Ensure public respect by avoiding even the appearance of Public service requires a continual effort to overcome cynical attituc about the people in government. For example, conduct which could reasonable observer will undermine the public trust even if the cond rather power are ;e it and to a is not 15 q.