by Ken Parker, ICMA State Liaison
On March 2, ICMA members received an email related to the proposed changes to ICMA Code of Ethics Tenet 12. For the past year, the ICMA Committee on Professional Conduct (CPC) has been reviewing Tenet 12. Members were asked their opinion on Tenet 12 in face to face discussions at Regional Summits and State Meetings throughout 2014. Additionally, the Committee asked members to complete a survey in order to provide them with additional input on language in Tenet 12. A large number of ICMA members participated by attending the face to face sessions and completing the survey.
The ICMA Executive Board received a report from the CPC and voted to refer the Tenet 12 proposed change to the membership. In order to change the Tenet language a vote of membership is required. What the CPC has proposed is to update the language. The language of this Tenet was adopted in 1972.
The current language for Tenet 12 is:
Seek no favor; believe that personal aggrandizement or profit secured by confidential information or by misuse of public time is dishonest.
The proposed language for Tenet 12 is:
Public office is a public trust. A member shall not leverage his or her position for personal gain or benefit.
Corporate members have until April 2 to cast their vote on the proposed language change. If you have an email address on file with ICMA, you will receive an email ballot. If you do not have an email address on file, Corporate Members will receive a paper ballot.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact Jared Dailey, Program Managers, Ethics and Form of Government. The telephone number is 202-962-3557 or email jdailey@icma.org. Also, Randy Reid, ICMA Southeast Regional Director or I are available to answer your questions as well.
