Ethics Tenet 5 & 6
- Tenet 5: Submit policy proposals to elected officials; provide them with facts and advice on matters of policy as a basis for making decisions and setting community goals; and uphold and implement local government policies adopted by elected officials.
- Tenet 6: Recognize that elected representatives of the people are entitled to the credit for the establishment of local government policies; responsibility for policy execution rests with the members.
Guideline
Conflicting Roles. Members who serve multiple roles – working as both city attorney and city manager for the same community, for example – should avoid participating in matters that create the appearance of a conflict to the governing body so that other opinions may be solicited.
Case Study
An unincorporated gulf-front residential community, bordering the city on its northern border, petitioned the City Council to be annexed into the city. The petitioning community is about a fourth the size of the city and has one-third of the number of registered voters as the city. The majority of the City Council (5 to 2) voted to proceed with the annexation process but they were split on whether annexation was good for the city (three in favor, three against, and one undecided). The primary reason for opposing the annexation is the concern that the political power in the city will shift from the older, established residential areas to the newly-annexed area. The City Council asked the City Manager to coordinate the preparation of an annexation report to address questions involving legal, financial, and any and all service questions. All Council Members decided that the City Manager should remain neutral on this issue as they determined it to be a political policy issue.
