Ethics Advisory
Opinion No. 2008-01
February 19, 2008
Issued
By: City Attorney’s Office
I. Issues:
May a city employee engage in outside employment as a consultant for other municipalities providing a type of service similar to his work for the city?
II. Inquiry
A city employee has inquired
whether he may accept a consulting contract with another municipality to
provide professional services similar to those that he renders for the City of
III.
The Ethics Code and Personnel Rules
A. The
Ethics Code Prohibits Outside Employment that Impairs or is Related to the
Employee’s City Responsibilities
Outside employment for city employees is governed by both the Ethics Code and the Personnel Rules. Ethics Code Section 2-48 (Conflicting Outside Employment) provides:
(a) General Rule. A city official or employee shall not solicit, accept, or engage in concurrent outside employment which could reasonably be expected to impair independence of judgment in, or faithful performance of, official duties.
(b) Special Application. The following special rule applies in addition to the general rule: A city official or employee shall not provide services to an outside employer related to the official’s or employee’s city duties.
(c) Other Rules. The general rule stated above applies in addition to all other rules relating to outside employment of city officials and employees, including requirements for obtaining prior approval of outside employment as applicable.
The
employee has advised he does not anticipate his outside employment would
interfere with his city responsibilities.
However, he also indicated that the outside contract would involve work similar in nature to his city employment. Although similar in nature, the facts
presented regarding the employee’s outside employment do not suggest that it
would overlap or connect in any way to his work for the city. Accordingly, the Ethics Code would not
preclude the employee from engaging in this outside employment.
B. Public Property and Resources
Under Section 2-49 of the Ethics
Code, A city official or employee cannot use, request or permit the use of city
facilities, personnel, equipment or supplies for private purposes except to the
extent and according to the terms that those resources are lawfully available
to the public. The employee, therefore, cannot use any city resource, including
the time for which he is scheduled to work for the city, for a private purpose,
including attending to his outside employment.
C. Employees Must Obtain Approval of Outside
Employment from their Department Director under Personnel Rules
Personnel Rule XXIV requires an employee to obtain written approval
from his department before engaging in the outside employment. The department director may approve the
request if he believes the outside employment will not impair or interfere with
the employee’s city responsibilities.
However, the director has the authority to decline to provide approval
for the reasons he or she deems appropriate
IV. Conclusion
Under the facts and circumstances presented in this inquiry, the Ethics Code would not prohibit the employee from accepting outside employment that is similar to, but not related to, his work for the city. He is required under the Personnel Rules, however, to obtain written approval from his department director to engage in this additional employment. Further, he must not use any city resource, including his own duty time, in connection with this outside endeavor.