City of San Antonio, Texas
Ethics Advisory Opinion No. 82
January 16,
2004
Issued By:
City Attorney’s Office
I. Issue
May a city employee accept hotel
accommodation paid by a non-profit organization
in connection with an event co-hosted by the
City of San Antonio and
the
non-profit organization ?
II. Factual Background
A city employee has inquired
whether she may accept accommodation at a hotel paid for by a non-profit
organization. The employee works for a
department that coordinates community events.
In this instance, the department contracted with a non-profit community
organization to arrange the occasion.
The event took place during late evening hours and required the employee
to be at the site to supervise the activities and be available to address
problems as they arose. To facilitate
the employee’s availability, the non-profit organization arranged and paid for
the employee’s accommodation at a hotel located near the event site.
The employee has inquired
whether the accommodation constitutes a gift and if so, is she required to
report the expenditure on her annual gift report. The employee is required to report gifts with a cumulative value
of more than $100 on her annual gift report under Section 2-78.[1]
III. The
Ethics Code Gift Provisions
Section 2-45(a) of the City Code (Ethics Code) states:
General Rule.
(1)
A
city official or employee shall not solicit, accept, or agree to accept any
gift or benefit for himself or herself or his or her business:
(A) that reasonably
tends to influence or reward official conduct; or
(B) that the
official or employee knows or should know is being offered with the intent to
influence or reward official conduct.
(2)
A city official or employee shall not solicit, accept, or agree to
accept any gift or benefit, save and except for items received that are of
nominal value and meals in an individual expense of $50 or less at any
occurrence, or meals with no more than a cumulative value of $500 in a single
calendar year, from a single source, from:
(A) any individual
or business entity doing or seeking to do business with the City; or
(B) any registered
lobbyist or public relations firm; or
(C) any person
seeking or advocating on zoning or platting matters before a city body.
VI. Conclusion
In this matter, the non-profit organization provided the
employee with hotel accommodation to facilitate the execution of duties
directly related to the event it co-hosted with the city. Because her official responsibilities
required that she remain at the site and accessible even after the event had
ended, the expenditure was directly related to her employment. Accordingly, the hotel accommodation did not
constitute a gift.[2] The employee is not required to report the
expenditure on her annual gift report.