§ 2-318. Gifts.

(a)

General rules.

(1)

A city official or employee shall not solicit, accept, or agree to accept any gift or benefit for himself or herself or his or her business:

a.

That reasonably tends or gives the appearance to influence or reward official conduct; or

b.

That the official or employee knows or should know is being offered with the intent to influence or reward official conduct.

(2)

A city official or employee shall not solicit, accept, or agree to accept any gift or benefit from:

a.

Any individual or entity doing or seeking to do business with the city including any registered lobbyist or public relations firm; or

b.

Any person or entity seeking action or advocating on zoning or platting matters before a city body.

(b)

Exceptions to the subsection (a)(2) herein does not include:

(1)

Gifts or benefits of nominal value not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) and no more than a cumulative value of five hundred dollars ($500.00) in a single calendar year.

(2)

A gift to a city official or employee relating to a special occasion, such as a birthday, wedding, anniversary, graduation, birth, illness, death, or holiday, provided that the value of the gift is fairly commensurate with the occasion and the relationship between the donor and recipient;

(3)

Advancement, reimbursement or payment of reasonable expenses related to travel only if performed in furtherance of a municipal purpose and only if appropriate to the public official's or public employee's performance of his or her official duties or representative function. For example, solicitations would be acceptable to defray travel related expenses and costs associated with hosting receptions during the city's annual legislative advocacy trip to Washington, DC, bi-annual trips to Austin, or any other domestic or international trip made for purposes of promoting the interests of the City of Laredo. Such payments must be disclosed in a travel report as required in section 2-378 (travel reporting requirements). Payment for or reimbursement of expenses for travel in excess of authorized rates under city policy will be treated as a personal gift to the official or employee for any applicable reporting requirements under sections 2-376 (financial disclosure report);

(4)

A public award or reward for meritorious service or professional achievement, provided that the award or reward is reasonable in light of the occasion and it is not prohibited under the V.T.C.A., Penal Code § 36.08;

(5)

A loan from a lending institution made in its regular course of business on the same terms generally available to the public;

(6)

A scholarship or fellowship awarded on the same terms and based on the same criteria that are applied to other applicants;

(7)

Any solicitation for charitable causes; provided solicitations are not made by any city official or employee to another for which he or she may have supervisory or other authority over;

(8)

Admission to an event in which the city official or employee is attending in connection with his or her spouse or child;

(9)

Ceremonial and protocol gifts presented to city officials or employees from a foreign government or international or multinational organization and accepted for the City of Laredo;

(10)

Admission to a widely attended event, such as a convention, conference, symposium, forum, panel discussion, dinner, viewing, reception or similar event, if attending or participating in an official capacity;

(11)

Admission to a community event held at any city-owned facility or at any other local venue provided the offer is unsolicited by the city official or employee;

(12)

Admission to training or education program, including meals and refreshments furnished to all attendees, if such training is related to the official or employee's official duties and is in the interest of the city;

(13)

Lodging, transportation, or entertainment that the official or employee accepts as a guest and not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00) from a single source in a calendar year; and

(14)

Political contributions received and reported in compliance with the Texas Election Code, and

(15)

Any solicitation for a city sponsored event that serves a valid public purpose and that benefits all the residents of the City of Laredo. For example, solicitations would be acceptable to defray costs associated with, but not limited to, the Recycle Day Fair, Kite Festival, Harvest Festival, and Sister Cities Festival.

(c)

Gifts to closely related persons. A city official or employee shall take reasonable steps to persuade a parent, spouse, child, or other relative within the third degree of consanguinity or second degree of affinity, or an outside business associate, to not solicit, accept, or agree to accept any gift or benefit:

(1)

That reasonably tends or gives the appearance to influence or reward the city official's, board member's or employee's official conduct, or

(2)

That the official, board member or employee knows or should know is being offered with the intent to influence or reward the city official's, board member's or employee's discharge of official duties.

If a city official, board member or employee required to file a financial disclosure report under division 7 (financial disclosure) knows that a gift or benefit meeting the requirements of subsections (c)(1) or (c)(2) above, has been accepted and retained by a person identified in this rule, the official or employee shall promptly file a report with the city secretary's office disclosing the donor, the value of the gift or benefit, the recipient, and the recipient's relationship to the official or employee filing the report.

(d)

Definitions. For purposes of this section:

(1)

A person is an "outside business associate" if both that person and the city official or employee own, with respect to the same business entity:

a.

Ten (10) percent or more of the voting stock, units or shares of the business entity; or

b.

Ten (10) percent or more of the fair market value of the business entity.

(2)

A "sponsor" of an event is the person or persons primarily responsible for organizing the event or sponsoring a table or tables. A person who simply contributes money or buys tickets to an event is not considered a sponsor.

(3)

A "source" is the individual or entity that funds an expenditure or series of expenditures. Expenditures made by multiple agents of the same source will be considered to be expenditures from a single source.

(4)

Any item of "nominal value" is an item with a fair market value of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) or less.

(Ord. No. 2012-O-126, § 2(2.03), 9-4-12; Ord. No. 2013-O-102, § 2, 8-5-13)