Sec. 2-4-60. Declaration required.
(a) In the event that a Town official has an actual or potential conflict of interest in any matter proposed or pending before the governing body of which he or she is a member, he or she shall declare such interest in a public meeting to the governing body of which he or she is a member. In the event that any Town official could be reasonably perceived as having an actual or potential conflict of interest, he or she shall disclose such conflict of interest to the governing body of which he or she is a member.
(b) In deciding whether or not a Town official or any employee has a conflict of interest, a Town official or employee and the governing body shall consider, among other things, the following:
(1) Whether the potential conflict of interest impedes independence of judgment;
(2) The effect of the Town official’s participation on public confidence in the integrity of the governing body and Town government;
(3) Whether the Town official’s participation is likely to have any significant effect on the ultimate disposition of the matter;
(4) The official’s fiduciary obligations to the Town; and
(5) The purposes of this Article.
(c) In the event more than one (1) member of the governing body declares or is challenged for a potential conflict of interest and such members refuse to disqualify themselves, the other members of the governing body shall proceed to determine the existence of a conflict of interest for each member in the order of disclosure and/or challenge. If the governing body determines there is no conflict of interest for a particular member, he or she may participate in the governing body’s subsequent determination of conflicts of interest as to other members.
(d) The determination of the existence of a conflict of interest shall be made by affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the governing body present and voting. The decision of the governing body that a member does have a conflict of interest shall be final, subject only to review by the Town Council.
(e) Notwithstanding the determination by a governing body that a Town official does not have a conflict of interest, a Town official’s declaration of a conflict of interest shall be final and shall result in disqualification of the official from voting unless authorized pursuant to Subsection 2-4-70(c) below. A Town official, however, should not abstain from voting based on a potential conflict of interest solely to avoid the official’s duty to participate in the action of the governing body.
(f) Any Town official who is a volunteer director or an officer of any not-for-profit corporation shall have a duty to disclose such affiliation prior to taking any action on any proposed or pending matter affecting the not-for-profit corporation before the governing body of which he or she is a member, provided that such affiliation shall not, alone, be considered a conflict of interest. (Prior code 4.18.070; Ord. 1246 §1, 2006; Ord. 1431, 2015)