December means the march to the holidays is in full effect. For a season rooted in joy and gratitude, it can feel remarkably rushed. Don’t let its fast pace fool you into taking a break from high ethical standards! Ethics is the beacon of honesty and integrity in the profession. Without it, the organization loses public confidence.

Local governments can most assuredly count on gifts of appreciation from residents, businesses, and vendors during the holidays. This may come in the form of barbeque to those in law enforcement, cookies to code enforcement, and candies to public works. It can be a tray of deliciousness to procurement and Nutcracker tickets to administration.

All these gifts have something in common: they are a reward for past performance, and the givers are likely hoping it will buy goodwill in the future. Often, the intended recipients are front-line employees, who are typically among the organization’s least financially compensated. This can be a recipe for public trust disaster if not appropriately mitigated.

Consider these steps as to why the topic of gifting matters:

1. Use the Code of Ethics as a Framework

Tenet 3’s guidelines on public confidence and influence, as well as Tenet 12 and the gift guideline, directly address why these are fundamental values for local government. These concepts should be in any gift policy!

Tenet 3. Demonstrate by word and action the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity in all public, professional, and personal relationships in order that the member may merit the trust and respect of the elected and appointed officials, employees, and the public.

Public Confidence. Members should conduct themselves so as to maintain public confidence in their position and profession, the integrity of their local government, and in their responsibility to uphold the public trust.

Influence. Members should conduct their professional and personal affairs in a manner that demonstrates that they cannot be improperly influenced in the performance of their official duties.

Tenet 12. Public office is a public trust. A member shall not leverage his or her position for personal gain or benefit.
Gifts. Members shall not directly or indirectly solicit, accept or receive any gift if it could reasonably be perceived or inferred that the gift was intended to influence them in the performance of their official duties; or if the gift was intended to serve as a reward for any official action on their part. 

The term “Gift” includes but is not limited to services, travel, meals, gift cards, tickets, or other entertainment or hospitality. Gifts of money or loans from persons other than the local government jurisdiction pursuant to normal employment practices are not acceptable. 

Members should not accept any gift that could undermine public confidence. De minimus gifts may be accepted in circumstances that support the execution of the member’s official duties or serve a legitimate public purpose. In those cases, the member should determine a modest maximum dollar value based on guidance from the governing body or any applicable state or local law. 

The guideline is not intended to apply to normal social practices, not associated with the member’s official duties, where gifts are exchanged among friends, associates and relatives.

The core principle is accepting a gift with a higher value can undermine public confidence. People have many different motivations to pursue a career in public service. The unifying theme is the profession has a direct impact on public trust because this noble calling requires one’s everyday conduct to merit this high bar. At a time when local government employee conduct is increasingly under the microscope, a slip-up can significantly diminish the organization’s capacity toward forward progress.

2. Assess State Law

Many states have laws that directly address gifts and the conflicts of interest they create. Some states do not permit accepting any gift, even those of very little value. When there have been bribery or pay-to-play scandals, a legislative solution is often to prohibit gift acceptance of any amount.

Remember to always disclose any item considered a gift on state conflict of interest forms. The forms are public information and be assured some residents review them and note any discrepancies!

3. Establish a Local Gift Policy

Often a local government will provide additional guidance on what is an acceptable financial threshold, if any, on the value of a gift. The policy is intended to prevent perceived or actual conflicts of interest. Many are heavy on the “do nots” and it will help those determine the right path in those gray areas.

The Ethics Matter column in the December 2023 PM, “ETHICS MATTER! Deck the Halls: Gifts and Gratuities During the Holiday Season,” by Martha Perego, shares tips and more information on developing a gift policy.

4. Anticipate Questions

Local government employees who come from other sectors where gifts are permitted may not expect the organization to draw such a firm line on gift acceptance. Expect that some employees may see other sectors be “rewarded” for their efforts, and they may feel this is unfair.

Members confronted with norms that are different from a previous employer should anticipate employee push-back and prepare in advance to explain why this topic matters in local government.

5. Train, Train, Then Train Some More

Training and vigilance on gifts and the conflicts they create are never done. There are always new ways local government employees will be challenged. We owe it to our employees to be honest about the difficulties they will face and give them the tools they need to address them.

Conflicts of Interest: A Fact of Life in Local Government

A leader has the ethical obligation to model the appropriate tone on gifts for the entire organization. Recognize that even with a gift policy and training in place, your employees may not always get it right. Maintaining a firm, fair, and consistent approach when expectations are not met helps prevent a larger public trust issue for the organization.

Gifts are sometimes tricky in local government because they can create a perceived or actual conflict of interest. Taking this into consideration, the Code references conflicts of interest more than 10 times because it is likely a member will be presented with this kind of challenge in their career.

I would enjoy hearing your stories of successful approaches to conflicts of interest so they can be publicized as a practitioner resource for members. Write me at jcowles@icma.org to share!

JESSICA COWLES is ethics director at ICMA (jcowles@icma.org).