During the April 16, 2019, Board meeting, 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)(a) 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 those charitable fundraising activities covered by the code provided he or she discloses those activities within fifteen (15) days thereafter. If the elected official wishes to utilize his or her direct staff or other resources of his or her governmental entity (such as the telephone and e-mail systems), advance approval by the elected official’s governmental entity is required.
Under the first drafted proposal which was developed in coordination with Mayor Bogen (Exhibit 2), an elected official would be permitted to engage in charitable fundraising (as defined therein) 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.
Alternative versions of the proposed Ordinance sponsored by Commissioner Udine, Vice-Mayor Holness, and Commissioner Ryan are attached as Exhibits 4, 5, and 6, respectively. A side-by-side comparison of the key elements of the current code provision and each version of the proposed Ordinance is attached as Exhibit 7 (the comparison differs from the one previously distributed only with regard to the bold language, which indicates a slight modification of the version proposed by Commissioner Udine). A memorandum to the Board regarding this general item and addressing certain concerns by the Inspector General is attached as Exhibit 8.
None of the proposed amendments would or could 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 enactment of any proposed amendment, we continue to encourage Commission Offices to discuss proposed action with this Office, whenever possible, in advance of taking such action.
This item was originally placed on the agenda for the May 7, 2019, Commission meeting, but was deferred to this meeting.
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