The formal review of the ICMA Code of Ethics, launched in 2013 with Tenet 7, continues this year with a focus on Tenet 12.
Tenet 12 requires members to:
“Seek no favor; believe that personal aggrandizement or profit secured by confidential information or by misuse of public time is dishonest.”
Why focus on Tenet 12?
This tenet covers a broad range of common issues that are significant for professionals working in local government: gifts, conflicts of interest, personal relationships, use of confidential information, outside employment, and endorsements. Because professionals encounter these issues on a regular basis, and they can be complicated to address, this tenet and the guidelines generate many requests to ICMA for ethics advice.
There has been no major review or revision of the tenet and guidelines since initially drafted in 1972. Some of the language, notably in the endorsement guidelines, is quite dated and the use of social media among professionals can create ambiguities in interpreting Tenet 12. For all of these reasons, Tenet 12 was selected by the ICMA Committee on Professional Conduct as this year’s tenet for review.
To begin providing your feedback, visit icma.mindmixer.com. If you have not visited the site before, you will be asked to setup an account to access the site. For additional information, read the article at the website.
Let the dialogue begin!
