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Spotlight on Success: Celebrating Cal-ICMA and NACA Scholarship Recipients

Kaci Fullerton, program manager, ICMA

Nov 13, 2023

Cal-ICMA and J. Thomas Lundy scholarships are awarded to exceptional individuals poised to become future leaders in local government to attend the ICMA Annual Conference.

Social media channels are an efficient tool for distributing the public information that local governments generate. They also are a powerful forum for public debate on the issues of the day. Members should always take care to ensure anything they post online does not reflect poorly on the organization or the local government management profession.

Both at the individual and organizational level, defining with clarity an appropriate strategy for use of social media is often a challenge. Tenets 3 and 9 of the ICMA Code of Ethics help provide a framework for members to consider in how to engage on social media without compromising their ethics or integrity.

Applicable Tenets and Guideline

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.

Guideline on 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.

Tenet 9. Keep the community informed on local government affairs. Encourage and facilitate active engagement and constructive communication between community members and all local government officials.

Considering these Tenets, the following advice is offered to members:

How do you advance the cause of keeping the community informed, encourage communication, ensure engagement, and eliminate barriers in the governance process?
Are your communications equal in tone regardless of whether it is an easy or difficult conversation? Do you “play favorites”?
Is the organization’s social media policy embedded within a personnel manual? Does this merit a stand-alone policy?
How is elected official social media use governed or handled?
Does your community have a public information officer (PIO) or a position that functions as a PIO? Is this position better equipped to respond when needed and take initiative to post to your organization’s social media account?
Are your employees aware of a member’s commitment to ethics and why this is important along with good customer service principles?
At the federal level, there is the Freedom of Information Act. What state or local laws exist to ensure social media communications are captured and provided in results for requests?
Be civil and clear whether you are expressing your personal opinion or speaking on behalf of the organization.
Regardless of privacy settings, social media can be very public. If you pause before responding to someone offline, think twice about making the comment online where it can live on permanently.
There are so many types of social media. Perhaps you have individuals you connect with on professional platforms that should not be in your circle on platforms you use on a more casual basis.

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Professional courtesy extends beyond interactions with elected officials and the public. If a member of a colleague’s governing body contacts you for advice, or you respond to the inquiry, a member is expected to notify his or her colleague of this contact as outlined in Tenet 2 and its guideline. You would want the same professional courtesy extended to you if the reverse situation occurred.

Rocky relationships between the manager and the governing body can cause everyone involved to develop an exit strategy. If the governing body’s transition plan involves finding a new manager and you are contacted, you have an ethical obligation to explain you cannot discuss an occupied position until the incumbent's separation from employment is publicly known.

There are also unique considerations to keep in mind if you are a retired manager who lives in the community, and it is a good idea to review the advice for interim/retired managers.

Applicable Tenets and Guidelines

Tenet 2. Affirm the dignity and worth of local government services and maintain a deep sense of social responsibility as a trusted public servant.

Guideline on Advice to Officials of Other Local Governments. When members advise and respond to inquiries from elected or appointed officials of other local governments, they should inform the administrators of those communities in order to uphold local government professionalism.

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.

Guideline on Seeking Employment. Members should not seek employment for a position that has an incumbent who has not announced his or her separation or been officially informed by the appointive entity that his or her services are to be terminated. Members should not initiate contact with representatives of the appointive entity. Members contacted by representatives of the appointive entity body regarding prospective interest in the position should decline to have a conversation until the incumbent's separation from employment is publicly known.

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Serving a public organization often provides employees with access to confidential information or knowledge of news before it is made public. Members are reminded to refrain from any investments that would compromise their objectivity in their local government position or would create an actual or perceived conflict of interest.

Applicable Tenets and Guidelines

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.

Guideline on 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.

Tenet 12. Public office is a public trust. A member shall not leverage his or her position for personal gain or benefit.

GUIDELINES

Investments in Conflict with Official Duties. Members should refrain from any investment activity which would compromise the impartial and objective performance of their duties. Members should not invest or hold any investment, directly or indirectly, in any financial business, commercial, or other private transaction that creates a conflict of interest, in fact or appearance, with their official duties.

In the case of real estate, the use of confidential information and knowledge to further a member’s personal interest is not permitted. Purchases and sales which might be interpreted as speculation for quick profit should be avoided (see the guideline on “Confidential Information”). Because personal investments may appear to influence official actions and decisions, or create the appearance of impropriety, members should disclose or dispose of such investments prior to accepting a position in a local government. Should the conflict of interest arise during employment, the member should make full disclosure and/or recuse themselves prior to any official action by the governing body that may affect such investments.

This guideline is not intended to prohibit a member from having or acquiring an interest in or deriving a benefit from any investment when the interest or benefit is due to ownership by the member or the member’s family of a de minimus percentage of a corporation traded on a recognized stock exchange even though the corporation or its subsidiaries may do business with the local government.

Confidential Information. Members shall not disclose to others, or use to advance their personal interest, intellectual property, confidential information, or information that is not yet public knowledge, that has been acquired by them in the course of their official duties.

Information that may be in the public domain or accessible by means of an open records request, is not confidential.

Relationships in the workplace

When a member engages in a personal relationship in the workplace, it runs contrary to the member’s ethical duty as outlined in Tenet 3 to maintain public trust and confidence in the position as well as the member’s responsibility to mitigate the organization’s exposure to legal and financial risks.

Members have been sanctioned for the following personal relationships:

A manager was not forthcoming with the governing body about her romantic relationship with the assistant manager until an anonymous letter prompted her to disclose it. This delay created the opportunity to place employees who were aware of the relationship in a difficult position and the relationship itself exposed the organization to significant legal and financial risks.
An assistant manager failed to disclose an ongoing romantic relationship with his supervisor until an anonymous letter prompted him to do so. This relationship had the potential to strain the effective working relationships between the assistant manager and the other employees who report to the manager by causing unnecessary conflict within the organization due to the appearance of him receiving special treatment.
A manager had a personal relationship with a subordinate employee for whom he made decisions on performance, promotions, and compensation. The manager and the subordinate employee lived together for at least the last six months of his tenure as the manager while he was her direct supervisor.
A manager had a romantic relationship with a subordinate employee and later disclosed the matter to the governing body after the couple began dating. Throughout the course of the relationship, the member provided salary increases to the employee and performance evaluations.
An administrator engaged in a personal relationship with a subordinate employee for approximately four months.
A manager engaged in a personal relationship with a subordinate employee, failed to make timely disclosure of the relationship to the governing body, and took no steps to resolve the ethics issue the conduct created.

Applicable Tenet and Guideline

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.

Guideline on Relationships in the Workplace. Members should not engage in an intimate or romantic relationship with any elected official or board appointee, employee they report to, one they appoint and/or supervise, either directly or indirectly, within the organization.

This guideline does not restrict personal friendships, professional mentoring, or social interactions with employees, elected officials and board appointees.

Disclosure of personal conflicts

When a member has a conflict of interest in appearance or actuality or has received personal financial gain as a result of a relationship with an individual or organization, the member has an ethical obligation to disclose the potential conflict to the organization, as well as follow the organization’s appropriate policies and/or procedures in place as well as state law.

Applicable Tenet and Guideline

Tenet 12. Public office is a public trust. A member shall not leverage his or her position for personal gain or benefit.

Guideline on Personal Relationships. In any instance where there is a conflict of interest, appearance of a conflict of interest, or personal financial gain of a member by virtue of a relationship with any individual, spouse/partner, group, agency, vendor or other entity, the member shall disclose the relationship to the organization. For example, if the member has a relative that works for a developer doing business with the local government, that fact should be disclosed.

It can be helpful to review dilemmas your peers in the local government management profession have faced and how they have navigated those issues. Keep in mind, ICMA ethics staff are available to confidentially discuss the issue and offer advice for consideration.

Examples of real scenarios members have faced and tips on ethical decision-making are highlighted in the articles below.