§ 2-2056. Standards of conduct.

(a)

A public servant shall not accept a gift, directly or indirectly, if he or she knows or reasonably should have known that it was given with the intent to reward or influence him or her in the performance or nonperformance of his or her public duties.

(b)

No public servant shall participate in the selection of a vendor or the approval of a contract if that employee has received a gift, directly or indirectly, from someone representing the vendor or a contracting party, including gifts from relatives. Furthermore, no public servant shall participate in permitting or inspection decisions if that employee has received a gift from the permit or inspection applicant/potential recipient or the applicant/potential recipient's principal, including gifts from relatives.

(c)

The following provisions regarding gifts from lobbyists are enacted as additional and more stringent standards of conduct and disclosure requirements than those specified in F.S. § 112.3148:

(1)

A reporting individual or procurement employee or any other person on his or her behalf is prohibited from knowingly accepting, directly or indirectly, a gift from a political committee or a committee of continuous existence, as defined in F.S. § 106.011, or from a lobbyist who lobbies the reporting individual's or procurement employee's agency, or directly or indirectly on behalf of the partner, firm, employer, or principal of a lobbyist. However, such a gift may be accepted by such person on behalf of a governmental entity or a charitable organization. If the gift is accepted on behalf of a governmental entity or charitable organization, the person receiving the gift shall not maintain custody of the gift for any period of time beyond that reasonably necessary to arrange for the transfer of custody and ownership of the gift.

(2)

A political committee or a committee of continuous existence, as defined in F.S. § 106.011; a lobbyist who lobbies a reporting individual's or procurement employee's agency; the partner, firm, employer or principal of a lobbyist; or another on behalf of the lobbyist or partner, firm, principal, or employer of the lobbyist is prohibited from giving, either directly or indirectly, a gift to the reporting individual or procurement employee or any other person on his or her behalf; however, such person may give a gift to a reporting individual or procurement employee if the gift is intended to be transferred to a governmental entity or a charitable organization.

(3)

The prohibitions set forth in this Section 2-2056 at subsections (c)(1) and (c)(2) above, are not intended to and shall not prevent a reporting individual or procurement employee who is a declared candidate for elective public office from accepting campaign contributions to the extent allowed by state or federal law.

(d)

The following gift prohibitions for public officials are enacted as additional and more stringent standards of conduct than those specified F.S. § 112.3148:

(1)

Public officials shall not solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any fee, compensation, gift, gratuity, favor, food, entertainment, loan, or any other thing of monetary value, from anyone who the public official knows or reasonably should know:

a.

Has, or is seeking to obtain, contractual or other business or financial relations with the county department or board with which the public official is affiliated.

b.

Conducts or represents a person or entity that conducts operations or activities that are regulated by the county department or board with which the public official is affiliated.

c.

Is seeking zoning, permitting, or inspection approval from the county department or board with which the public official is affiliated.

d.

Has interests that may be substantially affected by the performance or non-performance of duties of the county public official.

e.

Is in any way attempting to affect the official actions of the county public official.

This subsection is not intended to prohibit a public official from obtaining a loan from a financial institution at a rate and terms available to all other similarly situated members of the public by virtue of occupation, affiliation, age, religion, sex, or national origin.

(e)

No public official shall solicit a contribution from another person for a gift to an official superior, make a donation as a gift to an official superior, or accept a gift from a subordinate public official.

(f)

No public servant shall solicit a contribution from another person for a gift to a supervisor, make a donation as a gift to a supervisor, or accept a gift from an employee he or she supervises, except as provided in subsection (g).

(g)

Nothing in this section shall prohibit donations or giving gifts of nominal commercial value made between or amongst public servants on a special occasion or an established holiday. A special occasion, as contemplated in this section, includes those times when it has been regarded as customary to give a gift, such as a birthday, a wedding, the birth of a child or a grandchild, an adoption, a graduation, a promotion, permanent departure from the workplace or community, hospitalization, the loss of a loved one, retirement, or other similar occurrences. Nor does this paragraph prohibit public servants from participating in fundraising activities for charitable purposes.

(h)

This section does not apply to items of value excepted out of the definition for a gift.

(Ord. No. 03-53, § 6, 9-23-03; Ord. No. 04-05, § 6; Ord. No. 2013-39, § 2; Ord. No. 2017-03, § 2)