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ORDINANCE NO. _____ _
An Ordinance amending Chapter 8A and specifically Sections 8A-4 to clarify the
intent and resolve an ambignity and to amend 8A-4 to clarify and expand definitions
of the City of South Miami's Code of Ordinances.
IP-.
WHEREAS, the City code creates assemblies of volunteers as identified variously as a "board",
"committee", "authority", "task force", or "agency" with no formal definitions or distinctions between
them; and
WHEREAS, City code regulates appearances of elected officials before "boards" but not
"advisory committees" or other assemblies of citizen volunteers; and
WHEREAS, the City code that regulates appearances of elected officials before "boards"
presumes that any official so appearing has a financial or personal interest in an item before the board;
and
WHEREAS, a deliberative process requires independent review by members of the applicable
board; therefore, members of the City Commission should not influence decisions by a board with
jurisdiction over actions that require quasi-judicial procedures for items that are binding on the City, and
for which the Commission could be next level of appeal, e.g., the Environmental Preservation and Review
Board and the Historic Preservation Board.
WHEREAS, the City benefits from free interaction and exchange of ideas between elected
officials and advisory committees on matters where the officials' interests are purely professional and
associated with the proper carriage of their official duties; and
WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics has asked the City to further clarifY
this ordinance, particularly with respect to distinctions between quasi-judicial boards that make binding
decisions representing 'final agency action', versus advisory bodies that provide non-binding
recommendations to the City Commission.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA:
Section 1.
to read as follows:
Section 8A-I ofthe City of South Miami's Code of Ordinances shall be amended
Sec. 8A-I. -Conflict of interest and code of ethics ordinance.
(a) Designation. This section shall be designated and known as the "City of South Miami Conflict
ofInterest and Code of Ethics Ordinance." This section shall be applicable to all city personnel as
defmed below, and shall also constitute a standard of ethical conduct and behavior for all
autonomous personnel, quasi-judicial personnel, advisory personnel and departmental personnel.
The provisions of this section shall be applied in a cumulative manner. By way of example, and
not as a limitation, subsections (c) and (d) may be applied to the same contract or transaction.
(b) Definitions. For the purposes of this section the following definitions shall mmlY ae effeetf'ls:
ill The term "e~ommission mMembers" shall refer to the Mmayor and the Mmembers of
the e~ity e~ommission.
(:D The term "autonomous personnel" shall refer to the members of autonomous boards and
the term "autonomous board" shall mean autonomous agencies, boards, and authorities, such
as the South Miami Community Redevelopment Agency, the Pension Board, the Board of
Trustees for the police pension, and the Health Facilities Authority. a!itl!erities, aeards aad
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ageHsies, SHeil as the eit)' eemmHHit)' red6"ielepmeHt ageHey aHd the aealth faeilities
mllaerit)'.
(3) The term "quasi-judicial personnel" shall refer to the members of quasi-judicial boards the
plaHHiHg Ileard, the eHvireHmeHtai review aHd preservatieH Ileard, the eede eHfereemeHt
Ileard aHd SHea ether iHdj.yidHals, Ileards aHd ageHeies ef the sHy as perferm qHasi jllsisial
fuHetieHs. and the term "quasi-judicial board" shall mean any board that performs quasi-
judicial functions, including the Envirornnental Review and Preservation Board CERPBl and
the Historic Preservation Board.
(4) The term "advisory personnel" shall refer to the members of advisory boards or
committees and these eit)' advise!)' Ileards and agensies waese ssle sr primary resp8Hsillility
is te resemmeHd legislatisH sr give advise Is the sit)· semmissisH. the term "advisory
committee" or "advisory board" shall mean any board or committee whose primary
responsibility is to make recommendations including recommendations as to policy,
programs, or legislation or to give advice to department personnel, other boards, and the City
Commission.. Advisory boards and cornrnittees include the Planning Board, the Parks and
Recreation Board, the Green Task Force, and the Urban Landscape Cornrnittee,
(5) The term "departmental personnel" shall refer to the e!,;ity e!,;lerk, the e!,;ity mManager,
department heads, the e!,;ity aAttomey, and all assistants to the e!,;ity s!,;lerk, s!,;ity
ruManager and s!,;ity aAttomey, however titled.
(6) The term "employees" shall refer to all other personnel employed by the eCity,
(7) The term "compensation" shall refer to any money, gift, favor, thing of value or financial
benefit conferred, or to be conferred, in return for services rendered or to be rendered.
(S) The term "controlling financial interest" shall refer to ownership, directly or indirectly, of
ten percent or more of the outstanding capital stock in any corporation or a direct or indirect
interest of ten percent or more in a firm, partnership, or other business entity at the time of
transacting business with the e!,;ity.
(9) The term "immediate family" shall refer to the spouse, parents, children, siblings, aunts
and uncles, nieces and nephews, first cousins, grandparents, grandchildren, and in-laws of the
person involved.
(10) The term "transact any business" shall refer to the purchase or sale by the e!,;ity of
specific goods or services for consideration and to submitting a bid, a proposal in response to
a RFP, a statement of qualifications in response to a request by the eDty, or entering into
contract negotiations for the provision on any goods or services, whichever first occurs.
(! 1) The terms "board" and "committee" shall mean a group of two or more people who are
members of an organization created by the City for any purpose and whose members are
appointed or ratified by resolution of the City Commission,
Section 2.
to read as follows:
Section SA-4 of the City of South Miami's Code of Ordinances shall be amended
Sec. SA-4. -Influence of board members by mayor and commissioners, appearance before
bom·ds.
The mayor and commissioners ofthe city are hereby prohibited from:
(a) Attempting directly to influence the decision or official act of any member of any quasi-
judicial board of the e!,;ity.
(b) Appearing before any SIl6h quasi-judicial board except upon invitation of a majority of the
members of such board; provided, however, that if the mayor or a commissioner shall appear
before such board concerning a quasi-judicial matter without invitation, he shall be presumed to
have a financial or personal interest in that aHY matter which he or she shall have advocated or
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espoused before the board and shall be disqualified to vote thereon inhis or her official capacity.
However, nothing contained herein shall be construed to be an ethical violation of this Section if
the uninvited appearance of the Mayor or a Commissioner is for personal reasons or due to an
application filed by him or her and not otherwise a violation of the City's Ethics Code.
(c) Excepted from the provisions hereof are (i) is participation by the mMayor or members of the
e~ommission in the acts and deliberations of any board of which they are ex officio members,
and (ii) appearances before any quasi-judicial board concerning matters that are not quasi-
judicial, (iii) "flfleaFaflees berere a aliasi jllaieial beara eeaeemiag a matter elearly iaelltifiea
tfefR the start as eHe ef fiHaReial ef flefseaal iBterest aRd i'lvekiag disalialifieatien Ie vele as
detailed in (b) abeve.
Section 3: Codification. The provisions of this ordinance shall become and be made part of the
Code of Ordinances of the City of South Miami as amended; that the sections of this ordinance may be
renumbered or re-Iettered to accomplish such intention; and that the word "ordinance" may be changed to
"section" or other appropriate word.
Section 4. Severability. If any section, clause, sentence, or phrase of this ordinance is for any
reason held invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, this holding shall not affect
the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance.
Section 5. Ordinances in Conflict. All ordinances or parts of ordinances and all sections and
parts of sections of ordinances in direct conflict herewith are hereby repealed.
Section 6. Effective Date. This ordinance shall become effective upon enactment.
Passed and Enacted this __ th_ day of _______ , 2016.
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK
1st Reading
2nd Reading
READ AND APPROVED AS TO FORM
LANGUAGE, LEGALITY
AND EXECUTION THEREOF:
CITY ATTORNEY
APPROVED:
MAYOR
COMMISSION VOTE:
Mayor Stoddard:
Vice Mayor Welsh:
Commissioner Edmond:
Commissioner Liebman:
Commissioner Harris:
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