During the April 16, 2019, meeting of the Board of County Commissioners (“Board”), in connection with the Board’s discussion of Item 53, the Board directed the Office of the County Attorney to draft an amendment to Section 1-19(c)(5) of the Code to clarify when an elected official must disclose charitable fundraising activities and when formal approval by the governmental entity is required for an elected official to utilize staff and other in-kind resources in connection with such activities.
The Florida Code of Ethics sets forth standards of conduct for public officers and employees, including County Commissioners, and empowers county commissions to enact more stringent regulations. The County has enacted several more stringent provisions governing the conduct of public officials. The amendment proposed by this agenda item modifies one of those provisions, which addresses charitable fundraising.
Currently, an elected official may engage in charitable fundraising activities provided he or she discloses those activities within fifteen (15) days thereafter. If the elected official wishes to utilize his or her direct staff and other County resources (such as the telephone and e-mail systems), advance approval by the elected official’s governmental entity is required.
As modified, an elected official would be permitted to engage in charitable fundraising activities and utilize staff directly assigned to him or her, as well as in-kind resources of the governmental entity, provided the elected official discloses those activities within fifteen (15) days thereafter. Advance approval by the elected official’s governmental entity would only be required if the elected official wishes to affirmatively spend public funds in connection with the charitable fundraising.
The proposed amendment does not impact other legal requirements of permissible action, including that public resources (including in-kind resources) may only be expended in furtherance of a public purpose, that any attempts to obtain financial assistance for any entity or individual must make clear that the provision of assistance is purely voluntary (to avoid allegations of misuse of position to obtain a benefit for another), and that discussions with a proposed donor do not include (expressly or implicitly) any suggestion of a quid pro quo. Because analysis of these requirements must be fact-specific, and notwithstanding the proposed amendment, we continue to encourage Commission Offices to discuss proposed action with this Office, whenever possible, in advance of taking such action.
Another version of the proposed Ordinance, sponsored by Commissioner Udine, is attached as Exhibit 3. Commissioner Udine’s version would modify the current ethics code by providing that social media posts and statements at publicly noticed meetings that merely reference charitable events but do not expressly request that specific, identifiable individuals donate to a cause or event do not constitute charitable solicitation and are thus not subject to Section 1-19(c)(5).
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