photo by: Nick Krug

Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., is pictured on May 3, 2016.

Lawrence city commissioners will soon consider various updates to the city’s ethics policy, which has not been updated in nearly 30 years.

At its meeting Tuesday, the commission will consider adopting a revised ethics policy for city employees, elected officials and appointed officials. City Manager Tom Markus is proposing the updates to the policy, which was originally created in 1991.

Markus said the proposed changes aren’t the result of a recent incident, but that such policies simply need to be reviewed and updated every so often. He said the update creates transparency and dialogue, and also serves as a public message to everyone regarding how city business is to be conducted.

“I think the thing that it does is it reiterates that these policies are in existence,” Markus said. “It’s advising the public as to how we are supposed to be handling things.”

Additions to the policy include a provision that explicitly bans all employees from accepting various forms of gifts, appropriating city-owned property for personal use, and retaliating against people who report ethics violations, among other updates. Another addition also lays outs the potential repercussions for violating the ethics policy, which include possible termination or removal from office.

The current policy states that public officers and employees should not use their public position for private gain, and provides some examples, however the new policy is more specific. The new policy includes the following clarifications or additions:

• Clarifies that the policy applies to elected officials, appointed officials and city employees.

•. Explicitly states that soliciting, accepting, or collecting any fee, gift, or valuable thing from any person, organization, corporation, or other entity that is involved directly or indirectly in doing business or seeking to do business with the city is against the policy. Examples include money, gift cards, meals, special sales, as well as tickets or payments for tickets for banquets, sporting events or other entertainment events. Accepting promotional items of minimal value, such as mugs, pins, books or T-shirts, is acceptable.

• Prohibits elected officials, appointed officials and city employees from harassing or treating any person differently on the basis of race, sex, religion, color, national origin, age, ancestry, familial status, sexual orientation, disability or gender identity.

• Prohibits city employees from acting as a contractor or entering into a contract with the city for one year after ceasing to work for the city.

• Explicitly prohibits elected officials, appointed officials and city employees from appropriating city-owned property for personal use.

• Prohibits retaliation against a person who reports any alleged violation of the policy.

• Sets forth the potential repercussions for violating the ethics policy, including employee discipline, up to and including possible termination or removal from office.

Separate from the ethics policy, Markus is also implementing two employee relations policies, one regarding nepotism and the other fraternization.

• The first bars the city from hiring relatives of certain city employees. Those employees that can not have relatives hired by the city include: the city manager, city manager assistants, city attorney, department directors, city clerk, and employee of the human resources department, according to a memo from Markus to the commission. For other positions, no employee can directly or indirectly supervise a relative or routinely work for or with a relative.

• The current fraternization policy prohibits any relationship on or off the work premises that creates a conflict of interest or interferes with the city’s work, according to the memo. The new policy is more specific about problem relationships, and also explicitly prohibits all dating relationships, romantic involvements, and sexual relations between any supervisor and any employee that he or she supervises.

The Lawrence City Commission will convene at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.