Any purchase order or contract within the purview of this ordinance in which any city officer, elected or appointed, has a financial interest, shall be void provided that before the execution of a purchase order or contract, the Board of Public Works and Safety shall have the authority to waive compliance with this Section when it finds such action to be in the best interests of the City, upon the filing of a written statement of such interest with the Board of Public Works and Safety and the Common Council. Board of Sanitary Commissioners shall likewise have authority, with respect to its officers, employees, agents and its purchases, to waive compliance with this Section when it finds such action to be in the best interests of the operation of the Sanitary District and upon filing of a written statement of such interest with the Board of Sanitary Commissioners and the Common Council. Such Boards shall have no authority to waive compliance with this section with regard to Federal Grants.

(a) Gifts and rebates

Every officer, employee, and agent of the City, including the members of all boards, commissions, and other appointed bodies, is expressly prohibited from accepting, directly or indirectly, from any person, company, firm or corporation to which any purchase order or contract is or might be awarded, any gift, rebate of money or entertainment having a value in excess of $10.00 per day, except where given for the use and benefit of the City and is reported in writing to the City Attorney within 7 calendar days after the occurrence.

(b) Loans

No officer, employee, or agent of the City, including the members of all boards, commissions and other appointed bodies, shall accept loans from an individual or organization having prospective or actual dealings with the City or using departments unless such individual or organization is in the business of making loans in the ordinary course of business.

(c) Avoidance of appearance of impropriety

Every officer, employee or agent of the City, including the members of all boards, commissions and other appointed bodies, shall make every effort, in his or her contact with individuals or organizations having prospective or actual dealings with the City, to conduct themselves in such a manner as to not allow themselves to be put into a position where their judgments can be influenced, and so as to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

(d) Code of conduct

No employee, officer, or agent of the City, including the members of all boards, commissions or other appointed bodies, shall participate in the selection, award, or administration of a contract if a conflict of interest, real or apparent, would be involved. Such a conflict would arise when such person, any member of his immediate family, his partner, or an organization which employs, or is about to employ, any of the above, has a financial or other interest in the firm selected for the award.

(e) Disciplinary action

Any person found by the Board of Public Works and Safety or the Board of Sanitary Commissioners to have violated the prohibitions of subsections (a) or (b) above shall, in addition to and independently of the prosecution or results of any civil or criminal investigation or suit, be subject to appropriate disciplinary action including suspension or dismissal. Any person found to have violated the prohibitions of subsections (c) or (d) above shall be subject to such lesser disciplinary action, including temporary suspension without pay, as deemed warranted.