Contract Participation
- Details
- Parent Category: Code of Ethics
City officials and employees may not participate in any decision related to a contract, subcontract, contract solicitation, or contract proposal in which they know or should know that a financial of personal interest is held by any of the following:
- The official or employee
- An immediate family member
- An employer or prospective employer or
- A business in which the official or employee or an immediate family member is an officer, director, stockholder, creditor, trustee, or partner.
Participating in a contract includes approving, disapproving, or recommending; preparing specifications or requests for proposals; influencing the content of any specification or contract standard; rendering advice; investigating; auditing; and reviewing any proceeding , application, request for ruling, or claim. Immediate family members are spouses, registered domestic partners, parents, siblings, and children and the spouses of a parent, sibling, or child.
Example: A City Councilmember may not use city funds to engage the services of his brother-in-law’s firm to provide products and services to the councilmember’s office.
Example: An employee who works in concessions management at the airport applies for a job with an airport concessionaire to work in their Dallas office. While his application is under consideration, he may not review, monitor, or oversee the concessionaire’s contracts at the Atlanta airport. He needs to notify his supervisor and have his work reassigned.
Example: Members of a city board may not personally apply for affordable housing grants that are awarded in part based on the policy recommendations of the board.