Source: https://ecode360.com/16261317
Timestamp: 2020-02-22 02:01:51
Document Index: 329524650

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 52', '§ 52', '§ 52', '§ 52', '§ 52', '§ 52', '§ 52', '§ 52', '§ 52', '§ 52', '§ 52', '§ 52', '§ 52', '§ 52', '§ 52', '§ 52', '§ 52', '§ 52', '§ 946', '§ 52', '§ 19']

City of New Lisbon, WI Ethics
Ch 52 Art I Code of Ethics
§ 52-3 Statutory standards of conduct.
§ 52-4 Responsibility of public office.
§ 52-5 Dedicated service.
§ 52-6 Fair and equal treatment.
§ 52-8 Advisory opinions.
§ 52-9 Hiring relatives.
§ 52-10 Employees covered by collective bargaining agreements.
§ 52-11 Outside employment.
§ 52-12 Enforcement; violations and penalties.
Ch 52 Art II Fraud Assessment and Investigation Policy
§ 52-13 Purpose.
§ 52-14 Definitions.
§ 52-15 Responsibility to report suspected fraud.
§ 52-16 Authority to investigate.
§ 52-17 Investigation standards.
§ 52-18 Investigation procedures.
§ 52-19 Documentation and administration.
§ 52-20 Disciplinary action.
§ 52-21 Risk management.
Chapter 52 Ethics
Article II Fraud Assessment and Investigation Policy
[Adopted 4-2-2001 as Title 2, Ch. 5, of the 2001 Code]
The proper operation of democratic government requires that public officials and employees be independent, impartial and responsible to the people; that government decisions and policy be made in proper channels of the governmental structure; that public office not be used for personal gain; and that the public have confidence in the integrity of its government. In recognition of these goals, there is hereby established in this article a Code of Ethics for all City of New Lisbon officials and employees, whether elected or appointed, paid or unpaid, including members of boards, committees and commissions of the City, as well as any individuals who are candidates for elective office as soon as such individuals file nomination papers with the City.
The purpose of this Ethics Code is to establish guidelines for ethical standards of conduct for all such officials and employees by setting forth those acts or actions that are incompatible with the best interests of the City of New Lisbon and by directing disclosure by such officials and employees of private financial or other interests in matters affecting the City. The Common Council believes that a Code of Ethics for the guidance of elected and appointed officials and employees will help them avoid conflicts between their personal interests and their public responsibilities, will improve standards of public service and will promote and strengthen the faith and confidence of the citizens of this City in their elected and appointed officials and employees. The Common Council hereby reaffirms that each elected and appointed City official and employee holds his or her position as a public trust, and any intentional effort to realize substantial personal gain through official conduct is a violation of that trust. The provisions and purpose of this Ethics Code and such rules and regulations as may be established are hereby declared to be in the best interests of the City of New Lisbon.
A person's spouse, mother, father, child, brother, sister or first cousin (natural or step); or
Any person excluded from the definition of "public official" who is employed by the City.
Those persons serving in statutory elected or appointed offices provided for in Ch. 62, Wis. Stats., and all members appointed to boards, committees and commissions established or appointed by the Mayor and/or Common Council pursuant to this Code of Ordinances, whether paid or unpaid.
Section 946.12; Misconduct in public office.
Members of the City staff are expected to follow their appropriate professional code of ethics. Staff members shall file a copy of such professional ethics codes with the City Clerk-Treasurer. The City Clerk-Treasurer may notify the appropriate professional ethics board of any ethics violations involving City employees covered by such professional standards.
Obligations to citizens. No official or employee shall grant any special consideration, treatment or advantage to any citizen beyond that which is available to every other citizen. No official or employee shall use or attempt to use his or her position with the City to secure any advantage, preference or gain, over and above his/her rightful remuneration and benefits, for himself/herself or for a member of his/her immediate family.
Political contributions. No official shall personally solicit from any City employee, other than an elected official, a contribution to a political campaign committee for which the person subject to this article is a candidate or treasurer.
No official or employee of the City, whether paid or unpaid, shall engage in any business or transaction or shall act in regard to financial or other personal interest, direct or indirect, which is incompatible with the proper discharge of official duties in the public interest, contrary to the provisions of this article or which would tend to impair independence of judgment or action in the performance of official duties.
Any nonelected official who has a financial interest or personal interest in any proposed legislative action of the Common Council or any board, commission or committee upon which the official has any influence or input, or of which the official is a member, that is to make a recommendation or decision upon any item which is the subject of the proposed legislative action shall disclose on the records of the Common Council or the appropriate board, commission or committee the nature and extent of such interest. Such official shall not participate in debate or discussion or vote for adoption or defeat of such legislation.
No official or employee, personally or through a member of his/her immediate family, may solicit or accept, either directly or indirectly, from any person or organization, money or anything of value if it could be expected to influence the employee's official actions or judgment or be considered a reward for any action or inaction on the part of the official or employee.
No official or employee, personally or through a member of his/her immediate family, shall accept any gift, whether in the form of money, service, loan, thing or promise, from any person which could reasonably be expected to impair his/her independence of judgment or action in the performance of his/her duties or grant in the discharge of his/her duties any improper favor, service or thing of value. However, it is not a conflict of interest for any public official or employee to receive hospitality that is unsolicited and unrelated to government business, such as a meal, and that is not intended to influence the official.
An official or employee is not to accept hospitality if, after consideration of the surrounding circumstances, it could reasonably be concluded that such hospitality would not be extended were it not for the fact that the guest, or a member of the guest's immediate family, was a City official or employee. Participation in celebrations, grand openings, open houses, informational meetings and similar events are excluded from this prohibition. This subsection further shall not be construed to prevent candidates for elective office from accepting hospitality, as a properly reported political contribution, from citizens for the purpose of supporting the candidate's campaign. (The State Ethics Board has interpreted "hospitality" as it applies to state officials as including meals, beverages and lodging which a person offers at his/her residence and would have been offered if the recipient was not an official.)
Gifts received by an official or employee or his/her immediate family under unusual circumstances shall be referred to the Common Council within 10 days of receipt for recommended disposition. Any person subject to this article who becomes aware that he/she is or has been offered any gift, the acceptance of which would constitute a violation of this subsection, shall, within 10 days, disclose the details surrounding said offer to the Common Council. Failure to comply with this reporting requirement shall constitute an offense under this article.
Nonelected City officials and employees shall not appear on behalf of any private person (other than himself/herself, his/her spouse or minor children) before any City agency, board, commission or the Common Council if the official or employee or any board, commission or committee of which the official or employee is a member has any jurisdiction, discretion or control over the matter which is the subject of such representation.
Contracts with the City. No City official or employee who, in his/her capacity as such officer or employee, participates in the making of a contract in which he/she has a private pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, or performs in regard to that contract some function requiring the exercise of discretion on his/her part shall enter into any contract with the City unless, within the confines of § 946.13, Wis. Stats., the contract is awarded through a process of public notice and competitive bidding or the Common Council waives the requirement of this subsection after determining that it is in the best interest of the City to do so. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to the designation of a public depository of public funds.
Campaign contributions. Campaign contributions shall be reported by all candidates for City office in strict conformity with the provisions of the Wisconsin Statutes. Any campaign contribution tendered to or accepted by a candidate subsequent to the final statutory report shall be reported to the Common Council.
When an official or employee has doubt as to the applicability of a provision of this Ethics Code to a particular situation or definition of terms used in this article, he/she should apply to the Personnel Committee, which may ask the City Attorney for an advisory opinion and will be guided by that opinion when given. The official or employee shall have the opportunity to present his/her interpretation of the facts at issue and of the applicability of provisions of this article before such advisory decision is made. This article shall be operative in all instances covered by its provisions except when superseded by an applicable statutory provision and statutory action is mandatory, or when the application of a statutory provision is discretionary but determined by the City Attorney to be more appropriate or desirable. Advisory requests and opinions shall be kept confidential, except when disclosure is authorized by the requestor, in which case the request and opinion may be made public.
This section governs the proposed hiring of individuals for full-time or part-time work as City employees who are members of the immediate family of City employees or elected officials. "Immediate family" includes those relatives by blood or marriage defined in § 52-2 as "personal interest."
In the event that an employee covered under a collective bargaining agreement is allegedly involved in an Ethics Code violation, the terms and conditions set forth in the applicable collective bargaining agreement shall prevail in the administration and interpretation of this article.
No full-time officer or employee of the City not covered by a collective bargaining agreement shall engage in any other remunerative employment in or out of the City, provided that the Common Council may approve such outside employment or activity if it finds that it does not interfere or conflict with such officer's ability to perform his/her duties in an efficient and unbiased manner. Violation of this provision shall be grounds for removal from office of any such officer or employee.
Upon the written complaint of any person alleging facts which, if true, would constitute improper conduct under the provisions of this article, the Common Council shall conduct an investigation of the facts of the complaint. If the investigation indicates that there may be a reasonable basis for the complaint justifying further investigation, the Common Council shall conduct a hearing in accordance with the common law requirements of due process, including notice, an opportunity to be heard, an opportunity to cross-examine witnesses and to present testimony and other evidence in support of the accused's position and an opportunity to be represented by counsel or other representative at the expense of the accused. The Council shall make written findings of fact and issue a written decision concerning the propriety of the conduct of the subject official or employee.
A determination that a public official's or public employee's actions constitute improper conduct under the provisions of this article may constitute a cause for removal from office, termination of employment, suspension, reprimand, removal from committee assignment, or other appropriate disciplinary action. As an alternative or in addition to sanctions imposed herein, any individual violating the Ethics Code shall be subject to a nonreimbursable forfeiture of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 as determined by the City of New Lisbon Common Council.[1]
This policy is adopted to identify responsibilities, establish procedures and enforce controls to aid in the prevention, detection, reporting and investigation of possible cases of fraud involving the City of New Lisbon operations, resources and/or finances. This policy applies to any actual or suspected fraud involving an employee (management included), a consultant, vendor, contractor, outside agency, or person doing business with the City or in any other relationship with the City.
The City of New Lisbon does not tolerate any type of fraud. The City's policy is to promote consistent, legal and ethical behavior by assigning responsibility for reporting fraud and providing guidelines to conduct investigations of suspected fraudulent behavior.
Failure to comply with this policy subjects an employee (including management) to disciplinary action up to and including termination. Failure to comply by a consultant, vendor, contractor, outside agency, or person doing business with the City or in any other relationship with the City could result in cancellation of the business or other relationship between the entity and the City. The City will pursue prosecution if the results of an investigation indicate the possibility of criminal activity.
Any employee, including those in management positions.
An intentional deception designed to obtain a benefit or advantage or to cause some benefit that is due to be denied.
Theft of a check or credit card or other diversion of a payment.
Profiteering as a result of insider knowledge of City operations.
An employee with access to confidential information who sells the information or uses it in the conduct of an outside business activity.
Accepting or seeking anything of material value from contractors, vendors, or persons providing services or materials to the City. As defined in § 19.59(1)(a) to (d), Wis. Stats., any claim for reimbursement of expenses not made for the exclusive benefit of the City, including falsification of expense reports and/or timecards.
Any computer-related activity involving the alteration, destruction, forgery or manipulation of data for fraudulent purposes.
The City of New Lisbon specifically prohibits these activities or actions.
A manager, chief, director, administrator, superintendent, supervisor, elected or appointed official and any other employee who has authority to sign another employee's performance evaluation.
It is the responsibility of each employee (including management) to immediately report suspected fraud or other dishonest conduct to his or her immediate supervisor or department head. Supervisors, department heads or management staff, when made aware of such potential fraudulent or dishonest acts by subordinates, must immediately report such acts to the City Administrator. If the employee has reason to believe that his or her supervisor or department head may be involved or does not feel comfortable reporting the suspected activity to his or her supervisor or department head, he or she may report the suspected activity directly to the City Administrator. If the employee has reason to believe that the City Administrator may be involved or does not feel comfortable reporting the suspected activity to his or her supervisor or department head, he or she may report the suspected activity to the Mayor. Any reprisal against any employee or other reporting individual because that individual, in good faith, reported a violation is strictly forbidden.
All employees have a responsibility to report suspected violations. However, employees with supervisory and review responsibilities at any level have additional deterrence and detection duties, to include:
Awareness of risk for fraudulent or dishonest acts in their respective departments.
Placement and maintenance of effective monitoring, review and control procedures which will prevent fraudulent or dishonest activity.
Placement and maintenance of effective monitoring, review and control procedures which will detect fraudulent or dishonest activity promptly if prevention efforts fail.
Authority to carry out these additional responsibilities may be delegated. However, accountability for their effectiveness will remain with department heads.
All alleged or suspected acts of fraudulent or dishonest activity shall be reported promptly to the City Administrator, who has the primary responsibility for investigating allegations of fraud affecting the City and any of its departments. In cases where the City Administrator is suspected of fraudulent or dishonest activity, the Mayor shall have the primary responsibility for investigating such allegations. Due to the important yet sensitive nature of suspected violations, supervisors and department heads will not under any circumstances investigate instances of fraudulent or dishonest behavior on their own.
Supervisors and department heads must observe strict confidentiality and should not discuss the case, facts, suspicions or allegations with anyone unless specifically asked to do so by the City Administrator, Mayor or law enforcement.
The City Administrator has primary responsibility for investigating allegations of fraud affecting the City and any of its departments. In cases where the City Administrator is suspected of fraudulent or dishonest activity, the Mayor shall have the primary responsibility for investigating such allegations. The City Administrator or Mayor may assign responsibility for all or part of any investigation to the New Lisbon Police Department, County Sheriff, Deputy Clerk-Treasurer, City Attorney or other person or agency as may be warranted.
No person shall communicate with the suspected individual or organization about the matter under investigation, except as provided by the City Administrator or Mayor or as required by law enforcement agencies.
All investigations of fraudulent or dishonest activity shall be carried out in an impartial and confidential manner, without regard to the suspected individual's position or relationship with the City.
Every effort will be made to protect the rights and reputations of everyone involved, including the individual who in good faith alleges perceived misconduct as well as the alleged violator(s). However, disciplinary action may be taken as provided by this policy if a report is made in bad faith.
Properly designated members of the investigative team will have free and unrestricted access to municipal records. Such designees have authority to examine, copy or remove all or any portion of contents of files, desks, cabinets and other storage facilities (whether in electronic or other form) without prior knowledge or consent of any individual who might use or have custody of any such items or facilities when it is within the scope of investigative or related follow-up procedures.
All employees shall provide the investigative team all factual and relevant details relating to the alleged fraudulent or dishonest activity to the best of their knowledge, without partiality or prejudice to any person.
All inquiries regarding the alleged fraudulent or dishonest activity and/or its investigation shall be referred to the City Administrator, or in certain cases the Mayor, including but not limited to those from an attorney, press, law enforcement agency and the person or persons under investigation.
The City Administrator has primary responsibility for the investigation of reported suspected fraudulent and dishonest activity and coordination of investigative activities with law enforcement and other parties to the investigation. In cases involving the City Administrator, the Mayor shall have primary responsibility for investigation of suspected fraudulent or dishonest activity.
Once a report of suspected fraudulent or dishonest activity is received by the City Administrator, or in certain cases by the Mayor, he or she shall document the contact and conduct a preliminary investigation to determine the credibility of the report.
On determining that a report is not credible or is not a report of fraud, the City Administrator, or in certain cases the Mayor, shall document this determination. Such documentation shall include support for the determination and be referred to the Common Council in closed session.
If the report appears credible, the Administrator, or in certain cases the Mayor, will prepare an incident report and provide such report to the Common Council, City Attorney and City Auditor. The Administrator, or in certain cases the Mayor, shall prepare the report as soon as possible after the fraud is confirmed and shall document the content of the investigation, findings and any disciplinary action recommended or taken as a result of the findings and refer such to the Common Council in closed session.
Each employee involved in an investigation of suspected fraud shall keep the content of the investigation strictly confidential to the full extent provided by law. Investigation results shall be disclosed to the accused, accuser, Common Council and City Attorney.
Any required investigative activity shall be conducted without regard to the suspected wrongdoer's length of service, position/title, relationship to the City or any other perceived mitigating circumstance.
The City Administrator, or in certain cases the Mayor, shall maintain appropriate documentation regarding incidents of fraudulent or dishonest activity and shall develop and maintain guidelines for access to and security of this documentation. Questions or other clarifications of this policy and its related responsibilities should be addressed to the City Administrator, who shall be responsible for the administration, revision, interpretation and application of this policy. If the City Administrator position is vacant or if the City Administrator is the subject of a current investigation, the Mayor shall be responsible for the administration, revision, interpretation and application of this policy.
Failure to comply with any part of this policy is grounds for disciplinary action up to and including termination. Employees who have engaged in fraudulent or dishonest activity and those who intentionally report false or misleading information may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination. Additionally, any member of management who does not pass to the City Administrator, or in certain cases the Mayor, each and every report of suspected fraud made by an employee or other person is subject to disciplinary action.
The Common Council, with the City Administrator, shall carry out a detailed fraud risk review and assessment every two years. Additionally, at least once yearly, all departments should ensure that strategies developed during the most recent fraud risk assessment are reviewed for effectiveness and amended when necessary. Risk assessments shall also be reviewed upon staff turnover, organizational restructuring, changing technology or other environmental changes throughout the year.
One of the primary objectives of the risk assessment process is creation and maintenance of a "Risk Register" or a prioritized listing of all potential fraud and corruption risks facing the City. The Risk Register will take into account specific areas of risk relative to each department, utilizing staff input and, when practical, expertise in IT or legal compliance. In relation to each risk identified, the Risk Register will note the likelihood of the risk occurring and consequence if the risk does occur.
Periodic reviews (as set forth above) will analyze the effectiveness of action items arising from the most recent fraud and corruption risk assessment. An analysis of each action item should be carried out to ensure that all action items have been implemented. Any action item that has not been fully implemented should be considered for relevance and likely impact on the risk it was intended to mitigate. Based on the level of residual risk for each risk identified and assessed, the City shall alter existing or create additional internal control procedures and develop additional fraud prevention policies and procedures where necessary.