City redefines what’s considered a ‘conflict of interest’ for its employees
NORWALK — The Common Council Ordinances Committee has approved changes to the city’s code of ethics, particularly regarding what relationships are considered conflicts of interest for Norwalk employees.
The decision, made at the committee’s Tuesday meeting, limits conflicts of interest for city officials or employees just to immediate family or business partners. It removed the clause that extends that definition to any person or group close to the employee.
“The definition is broad enough to include many situations,” Norwalk’s Assistant Corporation Counsel Brian Candela said. “Both financial and personal conflicts are the ones most likely that an officer or employee are to be engaged in.”
These changes are part of the final steps in revamping the citizen’s guide to the city’s code of ethics, an initiative on which the Board of Ethics has been working, ordinance chair Lisa Shanahan said.
The changes were planned and altered for about four years before being approved Tuesday, Candela said. Most recently, the changes were brought before the Board of Ethics before the Ordinance Committee voted.
Officers and employees, as defined in the Norwalk code of ethics, are someone “elected or appointed to an Agency, including but not
limited to ad hoc or advisory committee members,” and someone “employed by the City or any of its agencies, whether as a classified Employee, unclassified, permanent or temporary, fulltime or part-time... employed by contract on a continuing basis,” respectively.
Immediate family members include anyone whose legally resides at the employee’s home and includes anyone who is related to them by blood, marriage or adoption. The definition extends to stepparents, in-laws and grandchildren, according to the code.
Additionally, the committee voted on changes to the types of transactions prohibited for employees.
The new language expands prohibited business transactions to anything that directly or indirectly influences the person’s judgment. Currently, the ordinance says officials may not have an immediate family, personal or business interest that would influence their judgment.
The changes to the list and types of prohibited transactions are minimal, and the bigger changes are in what constitutes a conflict of interest, Candela said
The changes now head for Common Council approval in January.