February 15, 2022
City Attorney's Office
DATE: February 15, 2022
TO: Mayor Butt and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Dave Aleshire, Interim City Attorney
Shannon L. Moore, Senior Assistant City Attorney
SUBJECT:
Adopt a Resolution Amending the City of Richmond’s
Conflict-of-Interest Code
FINANCIAL IMPACT: No financial impact
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
December 2019
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
The Political Reform Act requires the City of Richmond to review and update its conflict-of-interest code every two years. The City Attorney’s Office has reviewed the
current conflict of interest code and determined that the code should be amended to update designated positions.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
ADOPT a resolution amending the City of Richmond’s
Conflict-of Interest Code to ensure that all City positions required to file Statements of Economic Interest are
properly identified – City Attorney’s Office (Interim City Attorney Dave Aleshire 510-620-6509).
AGENDA
REPORT
February 15, 2022
DISCUSSION:
The Political Reform Act (Government Code section 81000, et seq.) requires all local government agencies to adopt a conflict-of-interest code. A local government agency’s conflict of interest code must list all agency positions that involve the making or participation in making of decisions that “may foreseeably have a material effect on any financial interest.” Participation means, for example, negotiating the terms of a contract, writing the specifications of a bid, or making recommendations to the decision-maker or governing body without significant intervening substantive review. This covers agency members, officers, employees, and consultants and it may include volunteers on a committee if the members make or participate in making government decisions.
Designated employees are required by the code to file Statements of Economic Interests (Form 700s) and to disqualify themselves when conflicts of interest occur. A Statement of Economic Interest (Form 700) is a public document intended to alert public officials and members of the public to the types of financial interests that may create conflicts of interests.
The City Attorney’s Office, in consultation with other departments, determined which positions and commissioners should be included in the conflict-of-interest code as designated employees. We also determined what financial interests each category of designated employees should be required to disclose. Based on this review, the amended conflict of interest code designates the positions that are currently required to complete a Form 700 and assigns disclosure categories specifying the types of interests to be reported.
The City Clerk will send an email to all those designated in the Conflict-of-Interest Code with a Form 700 filing obligation. The Clerk’s Office will work with each department point of contact to track and ensure that each filer electronically files their Form 700 by April
1. The point of contact for each department is responsible for the notification to incoming and departing designated employees that they are required to fill out Form 700s by April 1. These additional provisions will help to ensure that designated employees comply with their filing obligations.
The amended conflict of interest code now needs City Council approval to go into effect.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Resolution to adopt Amended Conflict of Interest Code Attachment 2 – Appendix A – Designated Positions
Attachment 3 – Appendix B – Disclosure Categories
Attachment 4 – Appendix C - Regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission