CITY COUNCIL PASSES
CHANGES TO CODE OF ETHICS
By: Michael Henry, Staff Director, Denver Board of Ethics
On November 30, 2009 City Council passed a number of changes to the Denver Code of Ethics, which governs all Denver elected officials, city employees and board and commission members. The last major revision to the Code of Ethics was made in 2001 and a number of smaller changes were passed in 2004 and 2007. The current changes were recommended by the Denver Board of Ethics, after several months of analysis, based on its experience in interpreting and administering the Code for the purpose of clarification and filling in gaps.
The more significant changes are as follows:
1. The Board of Ethics is given 31 days to complete its screening process after it receives a written complaint (expanded from 14 days)
2. A purpose statement in plain English is added to each substantive section of the Code of Ethics so that the reader can clearly understand the reason for each section. As one example, for the gift section, “The purpose of this section is to avoid special influence by those who give gifts to city officers, employees or officials.”
3. Adds a new item to the conflict of interest section (Section 2-61(a)(7)) to provide that a substantial interest exists if a city person “or a member of his or her immediate family participated personally in providing legal representation or lobbying for another party in the matter or owns 5% or more of the law firm or lobbying firm representing another party in the matter.”
4. Adds to Section 2-63 concerning permission for outside employment or outside business activity “City resources may not be used for any outside employment or outside business activity.”
5. Adds a new section as follows: “Sec. 2-68. Use of confidential records: No officer, official or employee may disclose any information or records that are not available to the public, which were acquired in the course of official duties, except in the performance of official duties or as required by law or court order.”
6. Adds a new section as follows: “Sec. 2-69. Aiding others: No officer, official or employee may knowingly aid or assist any officer, official or employee in the violation of any provision of this code of ethics.”
Please contact the Board of Ethics if you have questions about these changes or any other concerns about the Code of Ethics – 720-865-8412 or
michael.henry@denvergov.org. The entire updated Denver Code of Ethics, with the 2009 revisions underlined, is available at
www.denvergov.org/ethics.
For those new to city government, the Board of Ethics is available to provide advisory opinions to city personnel on ethics-related issues and to deal with complaints from any citizens. The mission of the Board of Ethics is “to encourage and guide city officers, officials and employees to adhere to high levels of ethical conduct so that the public will have confidence that persons in positions of public responsibility are acting for the benefit of the public.”