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Agenda Item 21.

City Council Meeting

Meeting Date:	02/21/2017
FROM:	City Manager

Subject:

Code of Ethics for Employees of the City of Brea

RECOMMENDATION

Council to Receive and File the Administrative Policy as Amended by the City Attorney and Council, Distribute to all City Employees and Work Towards Implementation of Applicable Provisions Requiring "Meet and Confer" with Employee Associations.

BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION

It is the stated policy of the City of Brea to uphold, promote and demand the highest standards of ethics from all of its employees and officials, whether elected, appointed or otherwise hired. Accordingly, all City elected officials (the Mayor and Council Members), all City employees, and all members of City appointed commissions and/or committees are expected to maintain the highest standards of personal integrity, truthfulness, respect, professionalism, honesty and fairness in carrying out their duties; avoid any improprieties in their roles as public servants; and never use their position or powers for improper personal gain or influence.

In keeping with the commitment to excellence and the highest standards of ethics in public service, the city has adopted the following policies:

Code of Ethics for Members of City Council and of the City’s Commissions and Committees (Adopted 10-1-2002)

AB 1234 State Ethics Training Requirements for Local Officials and Certain City Employees (Adopted 1-1-2006)

Code of Ethics for Employees of the City of Brea Administrative Policy (Adopted 1-19-2012, revised 9-2-2016)

Conflict of Interest Administrative Policy (Adopted 12-23-1992 and revision under review)

Outside Employment Administrative Policy (Adopted 9-27-2012)

Acceptance of Gifts and Gratuities Administrative Policy (Adopted 3-9-92 and revision under review)

City of Brea Personnel Rules and Regulations (Recent revision 3-1-2012)

The policy that most comprehensively addresses issues of employee ethics is the administrative policy titled Code of Ethics for Employees of the City of Brea. This policy was initially adopted on January 19, 2012 and was recently updated on September 2, 2016. The goal was to establish a uniform policy on ethics and accountability for City employees. At the time the policy was originally adopted in 2012, every employee was provided with a electronic copy via email with documentation the policy was received and the policy was posted to our City’s internal Intranet webpage.

In an effort to increase awareness of this policy, Human Resources updated the policy in 2016 and required that all new employees be provided with a copy of the policy during new employee orientations and sign an acknowledgement of receipt of the policy. In addition, the City Manager and all Department Directors have signed the 2016 Policy. In the 2016 version, added was an entire section on reporting wrong doing and updated the section on investigations and enforcement.

The Code of Ethics for Employees of the City of Brea policy covers the following specific categories of ethical conduct and conflicts of interests:

Use of Public Resources
Incompatible employment
Disclosure of Confidential Information
Gifts and Favors
Representing Private Interests Before City Agencies or Courts
Financial and Personal Interest
Reporting
Investigation and Enforcement

In regards to state mandated ethics training, AB 1234 requires that elected or appointed officials and certain designated City employees (usually managers, line supervisors, and analysts) take a two hour ethics training class every two years. This training is offered to our employees and elected officials by City Attorney Jim Markman and is titled “principles of ethics and the law in public service.” The most recent training occurred on Thursday, April 14, 2016. The City Clerk is working on another training date for March or April 2017. Over the last two years at least 57 City of Brea employees have taken the course in order to comply with state requirements.

City Attorney Review

At the February 6 City Council Study Session, the Council directed the City Attorney's office to edit the revised policy for compliance with all state and local laws. The attached policy reflects the City Attorney's recommended changes to the policy. There are provisions of this policy which may constitute grounds for discipline not found in state code and therefore are subject to "Meet and Confer" with Brea's employee associations.

The following action will occur upon the Councils concurrence with this policy:

Distributed electronically to all City Employees with electronic acknowledgment of delivery.
Reposted on the City's internal Intranet webpage.
Continue to require all new employees sign the policy upon hire.
Work towards the "Meet and Confer" process with employee associations on applicable sections of the policy.

In general, our administrative ethics policies are appropriately drafted to provide the City the necessary tools to address employee wrong doing and ensure sound ethical behavior. We regularly review our policies and make revisions when appropriate. In the end, the main goal is that all City employees remain independent, impartial, responsible to the public and are all bound to observe the highest standards of integrity and ethics.

FISCAL IMPACT/SUMMARY

Summary
In 2012 the City of Brea adopted an Administrative Policy on ethical standards and reporting fraud, waste, and abuse by public employees and officials. The policy was updated in 2016 and a subsequent update by the City Attorney is now presented to the City Council to receive and file. In addition, direct the City Manager to distribute, "meet and confer" with employee groups and update the Administrative Policy whenever necessary.

Fiscal Impact
None

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

William Gallardo, City Manager
Prepared by: Mario E. Maldonado, Human Resources Manager

Attachments
Code of Ethics for Employees of Brea