Voting Conflicts Training

Download the Voting Conflicts Training audio file

This training session will cover voting conflicts of interest. As a member of a City of Orlando board or committee, you will be asked to cast votes on matters that come before your board or committee.

The basic principle that you need to understand is that you must never vote on any matter that would benefit you personally.

This makes sense, of course, and seems simple at first blush, but there are some important details and nuances that you also need to know.

The first important rule that you need to remember is that Florida law actually requires you to vote on every matter that comes before your board or committee for a decision unless there is or appears to be a possible conflict of interest.

In other words, you may not abstain from a vote for any reason unless you are required to abstain because of the conflict of interest rules, which we will discuss momentarily.

For each measure that comes before your board for a decision, the recording secretary is obligated to record a vote from you.

And remember, under the rules of Parliamentary procedure, if you do not voice an audible yes or no vote, your silence is automatically considered an affirmative vote.

Now, by virtue of being appointed to a City of Orlando board or committee, even if your body's powers are only advisory in nature, you become a public officer for purposes of the voting conflicts portion of the State Ethics Code.

As a municipal public official, you are prohibited from voting in an official capacity upon any measure which would inure to you your private gain or loss.

In addition to matters that would benefit you personally, you are also prohibited from voting on matters that you know would inure to the private gain or loss of one of the any principal by whom you are retained or to the parent organization of a principal by whom you are retained or a subsidiary of a corporate principal by whom you are retained or a relative or a business associate.

A relative means your father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, brother, sister, father in law, mother in law, son in law, or daughter in law.

A business associate is any person or entity engaged in or carrying on a business enterprise with you as a partner, joint venturer, corporate shareholder, where the shares are not traded on a stock exchange or co owner of a property.

To review, there are six categories of persons or entities that you need to be concerned with here.

You must not vote on matters that inure to the gain or loss of you a relative as we just defined a business associate as we just defined a principal by whom you are retained, apparent organization of a principal by whom you are retained, and finally a subsidiary of a corporate principal by whom you are retained.

Once you have determined that you or one of these individuals or entities would be substantially helped or harmed by the outcome of the vote.

You then have three important duties.

One, before the vote is taken, you must publicly disclose to the assembly the nature of your conflict.

This is a simple statement from you made aloud to the assembly and the public, identifying which of the six categories of persons or entities we just discussed that the vote would help harm.

So, for example, let's assume that you are a practicing architect and that your board is considering whether to approve or deny a development plan for a piece of property that is owned by one of your clients.

Just before the vote is taken on the measure, you need to request the floor from the chairperson and say something more or less as Mr.

Chair, the property at issue in this matter is owned by Ms. Laura Rodriguez.

Ms. Rodriguez is a client of mine and therefore I must abstain from voting on this question.

Next, after disclosing the nature of your conflict, when the vote is called, you must not vote.

This is the one situation in which being silent during a vote will not result in your silence being recorded as an affirmative vote.

Number three.

And finally, within 15 days of the vote occurring, you must file with your board recording secretary a memorandum describing the conflict.

The Florida Commission on Ethics provides a form memorandum referred to as the Commission on Ethics Form 8B.

Many city board secretaries make a habit of bringing blank Form 8B's to their board meetings, but if they do not, you can always Download a Form 8B from the Commission on Ethics website or just ask city staff to help you locate one while you have 15 days from when the vote occurs to file the form.

Because the form is so short and easy to fill out, we always recommend simply completing the form and leaving it with your board secretary right after your meeting.

Once filed with your board secretary, the memorandum is attached to your board's meeting minutes.

So let's review the three steps you must take when you are confronted with a conflict of interest.

First, publicly declare the nature of the conflict before the vote is taken.

Second, abstain from voting.

And third, and finally, file form 8B with your board secretary within 15 days of the vote or ideally, right after your meeting.

Now, before we conclude this training session, let me offer a few thoughts that may help you navigate the rules relating to voting conflicts of interest.

Most city boards and committees will publish an agenda for upcoming meetings.

Normally, that agenda, along with supporting materials such as staff reports and application materials, will be sent to you several days before the meeting.

You should take this opportunity before the meeting is held to review the material to determine whether applicants or other persons directly affected by the upcoming agenda are a relative, business associate or other person or firm that we just defined.

Two, while the rules on voting conflicts of interest might seem a little more complicated than you first imagined, always remember the very first and very simple rule of the City of Orlando ethics policy.

Avoid doing anything personally or professionally that might seem or appear to be improper or unethical.

Using this rule as a guidepost will help you through most ethical questions.

Which ties into the third point where there is uncertainty about whether you should abstain from voting.

Specifically, where it might be unclear whether or not a person or business affected by your board's decision falls into one of the six categories of persons or businesses for which you must abstain from voting.

Always remember that you must vote on every matter that comes before you unless there is or appears to be a conflict of interest.

The or appears to be language is an invitation to err on the side of caution and where there is legitimate uncertainty, to abstain from the vote.

Finally, always remember that city staff is here to help you.

Whenever you have a question about a possible conflict of interest, please ask us.

Most city boards and committees will have a city attorney assigned to assist your board or committee with its work.

If you do not or if you do not know your assigned city attorney, please please ask your board secretary or other city staff and they can easily get you in contact with us.