The City of McAllen is committed to the highest ethical standards. Therefore, it is a serious breach of the public trust to compromise the public purchasing process by directing purchases to certain favored vendors or to tamper with the competitive bidding process. Misuse of the purchasing power of a local government caries criminal penalties and can be caused by a lack of understanding or clear guidelines about what constitutes abuse of office. Therefore the standards below must be strictly adhered to by employees.
Employees are required to follow all applicable rules set forth in the City Charter and City Code as well as the ethical guidelines below.
Ethics Statement
Public employment is a public trust. All employees must carry out their duties impartially so as to assure fair competitive access to governmental procurement by responsible contractors. They should conduct themselves in such a manner as to gain the public’s trust and confidence in the integrity, accountablity, and commitment of the City of McAllen.
General Ethics Standards
All City of McAllen employees involved with procurement or purchasing shall promote excellent supplier relationships by providing excellent customer service while remaining impartial with all vendors.
All staff members shall demonstrate loyality to the City of McAllen and it’s citizens by knowing and complying with all City Ordinances, State and Federal Law, and Policies & Procedures governing all procurement and purchasing activities.
All staff members shall avoid appearances of impropreity during all interactions with new, potential and existing vendors.
All staff members shall refrain from all activities that would create a conflict between personal interests and those of the City’s, such as accepting gifts or other things of value from present or potential vendors.
All staff members shall report all activities to the City of McAllen that would not be considered at the highest level of integrity, accountability, and commitment.
All staff members shall not misuse public funds for personal gain or for obtaining personal favors from potential or existing vendors.
All staff members shall always strive to improve the standards contained herein.
It is essential for all vendors doing business with the City of McAllen to observe the same ethical standards prescribed herein and below:
o It shall be a breach of ethics to attempt to influence or coerce any employee of the City of McAllen to breach or compromise the standards of ethical conduct.
o It shall be a breach of ethics for any employee of the City of McAllen to participate directly or indirectly in a procurement when the employee is aware that:
* The employee or any member of the employee’s immediate family has a financial interest pertaining to the procurement; or
* A business or organization in which the employee, or any member of the employee’s immediate family, has a financial interest pertaining to the procurement; or
* Any other person, business or organization with whom the employee or any member of the employee’s immediate family is negotiating or has an arrangement concerning the procurement
o It shall be a breach of ethics for anyone representing a vendor to offer, give or agree to give any employee of the City of McAllen a gratuity or an offer of employment in connection with any specific procurement specification, approval, disapproval, or recommendation.