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Chapter 135: CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Section 135.010.  Declaration of Policy. [Ord. No. 700 §1, 7-8-1997; Ord. No. 715 §1, 6-15-1999; Ord. No. 791 §1, 8-14-2001; Ord. No. 855 §1, 8-12-2003; Ord. No. 18-910 §1, 8-9-2005; Ord. No. 07-939 §1, 8-14-2007; Ord. No. 09-971 §1, 8-4-2009; Ord. No. 10-992 §1, 9-13-2011; Ord. No. 17-11 § 1, 6-13-2017]

The proper operation of municipal government requires that public officials and employees be independent, impartial and responsible to the people; that government decisions and policy be made in the proper channels of the governmental structure; that public office not be used for personal gain; and that the public have confidence in the integrity of its government. In recognition of these goals, there is hereby established a procedure for disclosure by certain officials and employees of private financial or other interests in matters affecting the City. 

Section 135.020.  Conflicts of Interest. [Ord. No. 700 §2, 7-8-1997; Ord. No. 715 §2, 6-15-1999; Ord. No. 791 §2, 8-14-2001; Ord. No. 855 §2, 8-12-2003; Ord. No. 18-910 §2, 8-9-2005; Ord. No. 07-939 §2, 8-14-2007; Ord. No. 09-971 §2, 8-4-2009; Ord. No. 10-992 §2, 9-13-2011; Ord. No. 17-11 § 2, 6-13-2017]

The Mayor or any member of the Board of Aldermen who has a substantial personal or private interest, as defined by State law, in any bill shall disclose on the records of the City Council the nature of his/her interest and shall disqualify himself/herself from voting on any matters relating to this interest. 

Section 135.030.  Disclosure Reports. [Ord. No. 700 §3, 7-8-1997; Ord. No. 715 §3, 6-15-1999; Ord. No. 791 §3, 8-14-2001; Ord. No. 855 §3, 8-12-2003; Ord. No. 18-910 §3, 8-9-2005; Ord. No. 07-939 §3, 8-14-2007;Ord. No. 10-992 §1, 9-13-2011; Ord. No. 09-971 §3, 8-4-2009; Ord. No. 10-992 §3, 9-13-2011; Ord. No. 17-11 § 3, 6-13-2017] 

A.     Each elected official, candidate for elective office, the Chief Administrative Officer, the Chief Purchasing Officer and the full-time general counsel shall disclose the following Information by May 1, or the appropriate deadline as referenced in Section 105.487, RSMo., if any such transactions occurred during the previous calendar year:  
  1.       For such person, and all persons within the first degree of consanguinity or affinity of such person, the date and the identities of the parties to each transaction with a total value in excess of five hundred dollars ($500.00), if any, that such person had with the political subdivision, other than compensation received as an employee or payment of any tax, fee or penalty due to the political subdivision, and other than transfers for no consideration to the political subdivision.  
  2.       The date and the identities of the parties to each transaction known to the person with a total value in excess of five hundred dollars ($500.00), if any, that any business entity in which such person had a substantial interest had with the political subdivision or transactions involving payment for providing utility service to the political subdivision, and other than transfers for no consideration to the political subdivision.  
      The Chief Administrative Officer, the Chief Purchasing Officer, and candidates for either of these positions also shall disclose by May 1, or the appropriate deadline as referenced in Section 105.487, RSMo., the following information for the previous calendar year:   
           a.      The name and address of each of the employers of such person from whom income of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or more was received during the year covered by the statement;  
         b.      The name and address of each sole proprietorship which he/she owned; the name, address and general nature of the business conducted of each general partnership and joint venture in which he/she was a partner or participant; the name and address of each partner or coparticipant for each partnership or joint venture unless such names and addresses are filed by the partnership or joint venture with the Secretary of State; the name, address and general nature of the business conducted of any closely held corporation or limited partnership in which the person owned ten percent (10%) or more of any class of the outstanding stock or limited partners' units; and the name of any publicly traded corporation or limited partnership which is listed on a regulated stock exchange or automated quotation system in which the person owned two percent (2%) or more of any class of outstanding stock, limited partnership units or other equity interests;  
         c.      The name and address of each corporation for which such person served in the capacity of a director, officer, or receiver.       

Section 135.040.  Filing of Reports. [Ord. No. 700 §4, 7-8-1997; Ord. No. 715 §5, 6-15-1999; Ord. No. 791 §4, 8-14-2001; Ord. No. 855 §4, 8-12-2003; Ord. No. 18-910 §4, 8-9-2005; Ord. No. 07-939 §4, 8-14-2007; Ord. No. 09-971 §4, 8-4-2009; Ord. No. 10-992 §4, 9-13-2011; Ord. No. 17-11 § 4, 6-13-2017] 

A.     The financial interest statements shall be filed at the following times, but no person is required to file more than one financial interest statements in any calendar year:  
  1.       Every person required to file a financial interest statement shall file the statement annually not later than May 1, and the statement shall cover the calendar year ending the immediately preceding December 31; provided, that any member of the Board of Aldermen may supplement the financial interest statement to report additional interests acquired after December 31 of the covered year until the date of filing of the financial interest statement.  
  2.       Each person appointed to office shall file the statement within thirty (30) days of such appointment or employment covering the calendar year ending the previous December 31.  
  3.       Every candidate required to file a personal financial disclosure statement shall file not later than fourteen (14) days after the close of filing at which the candidate seeks nomination or election or nomination by caucus. The time period of this statement shall cover the twelve (12) months prior to the closing date of filing for candidacy.   
B.     Financial disclosure reports giving the financial information required in Section 135.030 shall be filed with the local political subdivision and with the Missouri Ethics Commission. The reports shall be available for public inspection and copying during normal business hours.   

Chapter 140: CITY CEMETERY

Section 140.010.  Sexton. [CC 1984 §35.010]

The City shall have the care and control of the City cemetery. Except as may be provided otherwise by resolution or order of the Board of Aldermen, all work done within the City cemetery shall be under the general supervision of the City. 

Section 140.020.  Sales of Cemetery Lots — Fees to Sexton. [CC 1984 §35.020]

Lots in the City cemetery shall be sold by the City at such prices and upon such terms as the Board of Aldermen may by resolution prescribe, and the sexton shall receive such fees therefor as the Board of Aldermen may deem just. 

Section 140.030.  Deeds to Lots When Sold. [CC 1984 §35.030]

Upon receipt by the sexton that he/she has sold any lot or part of lot, it shall be the duty of the City Clerk to make out a certificate, specifying that the purchaser to whom it is issued is the owner of the lot, or part of lot, described therein by numbers, as laid down upon the official plat of the cemetery, for the purpose of interment only. Such certificate shall be signed by the Mayor and countersigned by the City Clerk, and shall be under the common Seal of the City; and every such certificate shall vest in the purchaser, his/her heirs and assigns, a right in fee simple to such lot or part of lot, for the sole purpose of interment, under the regulations of the Board of Aldermen. 

Section 140.040.  Disposition of Proceeds of Lot Sales — Cemetery Fund. [CC 1984 §35.040]

All money received from sale of lots shall be paid into the City Treasury, and constitute the Cemetery Fund, to be expended under the direction of the Board of Aldermen in maintaining, beautifying and improving the cemetery. 

Section 140.050.  Personal Conduct. [CC 1984 §35.050] 

A.     No person shall use obscene or profane language or conversation within the City cemetery. 
B.     No person shall pick any flowers or break any tree or shrub within the City cemetery. 
C.    No person shall write upon, make, cut, bruise, break, discolor or otherwise deface or injure any stone, monument, fence or other structure within the City cemetery. 
D.     No person shall discharge any firearm within the City cemetery, except at military funerals and then only to fire blank ammunition as a member of a firing squad, and except as may otherwise be lawful in self defense or in arresting felons or preventing felonies. 
E.      No person shall, without proper authority, sit or walk upon or otherwise occupy any private property within the City cemetery. 
F.      No person shall commit any act of vandalism within the City cemetery or commit any breach of the peace therein. 
G.     No person shall leave within the City cemetery any waste paper, cans, bottles, food scraps or other items commonly known as "litter".   

Section 140.060.  Children Under Fourteen Years of Age. [CC 1984 §35.060]

Children under fourteen (14) years of age shall not be permitted within the City cemetery except when accompanied by and in the charge of responsible adults. 

Section 140.070.  Entering or Remaining in Cemetery When Closed to Visitors. [CC 1984 §35.070]

No person other than a public officer or employee acting in line of official duty shall enter or remain within the City cemetery while such cemetery is closed to visitors except by authority of the Board of Aldermen or the sexton. 

Section 140.080.  Livestock Prohibited — Duty of Owners of Livestock. [CC 1984 §35.080]

It shall be unlawful for any person to turn any horse, cow or other stock into the City cemetery, or allow such stock to remain therein after being notified thereof, whether such stock got therein by accident or otherwise. 

Section 140.090.  Animals Generally — Seeing-Eye Dogs. [CC 1984 §35.090]

No person shall bring within the City cemetery any animal other than a seeing-eye dog, except that horses shall be permitted as provided in Section 140.100 of this Chapter. 

Section 140.100.  Vehicles and Horses. [CC 1984 §35.100]

Only those vehicles and horses used for funerals or for other purposes necessary for the use or maintenance of the cemetery, or motor vehicles of orderly persons visiting lots or graves within the cemetery, shall be admitted to the City cemetery; and any horse so authorized to enter the cemetery shall not be left unattended within the cemetery. 

Section 140.110.  Speed Limits. [CC 1984 §35.110]

No motor vehicle other than an authorized emergency vehicle as defined in Section 300.020 of this Code, shall be propelled within the City cemetery at a rate of speed in excess of fifteen (15) miles per hour; and no animal or animal-drawn vehicle shall be ridden or driven within the City cemetery at any gait other than walk. 

Section 140.120.  Rules and Regulations. [CC 1984 §35.120]

The Board of Aldermen may, by resolution, provide rules and regulations for the government and maintenance of the City cemetery, to include such subjects as, among others, the digging, opening and closing of graves; interments and disinterments; the marking of graves; records of interments and disinterments; the platting of lots and burial spaces; lot prices and terms for the purchase of lots; the maintenance and use of roads, grounds, fences and other public real property of the cemetery; the planting of trees, shrubbery and other plants; the erection and maintenance of mausoleums, monuments and other structures on private lots within the cemetery; the hours during which the cemetery shall be open to visitors and vehicles; and the prices and fees to be paid to the City and employees for services rendered with respect to the cemetery. 

Section 140.130.  Board of Directors. [Ord. No. 847 §1, 4-8-2003] 

A.     The La Plata Cemetery Association is hereby designated as the Board of Directors of the La Plata Cemetery. 
B.     The Mayor, with the approval of the Board of Aldermen, shall proceed to appoint a Board of five (5) Directors of the La Plata Cemetery, chosen from the citizens at large with reference to their fitness for such office. Vacancies in the Board of Directors, occasioned by removal, resignation or otherwise, shall be reported to the Board of Aldermen and be filled in like matter as original appointments. 
C.     The Board of Directors shall make recommendations to the City Administrator and the Board of Aldermen concerning the expenditures of all money collected to the credit of the City Cemetery Fund. 
D.     The Board of Directors shall make recommendations of the City Administrator and Board of Aldermen as per setting of budget and operating within the established budget guidelines. 
E.      The Board of Directors shall have at their discretion the control over spending an amount up to five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) per vendor transaction from the City Cemetery Fund without prior approval from the City Administrator or Board of Aldermen. In order to exercise this spending power, the Board of Directors must first follow bidding procedures as defined by the City Administrator and Board of Aldermen. 
F.      The Board of Directors shall have power to hire a suitable person(s) to take care of said cemetery. Benefits, terms of employment and compensation of said person(s) will be determined by the City Administrator and Board of Aldermen. 
G.     The Board of Directors shall have exclusive control over the daily maintenance and upkeep of the La Plata Cemetery. 
H.     The Board of Directors shall make recommendations to the City Administrator and the Board of Aldermen concerning all other matters not included in daily maintenance and upkeep of said cemetery. The City Administrator and Board of Aldermen have the final decision as to defining daily maintenance and upkeep. 
I.       The Mayor may, by and with the consent of the Board of Aldermen, remove any member of the Board of Directors for misconduct or neglect of duty. Misconduct shall include, but is not limited to, failure to abide by all Subsections of this Section.