Agenda - Council - 07/13/1999 - Laserfiche WebLink

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basis. The immediate issue is whether the Mayor has a conflict ofinteresl in participating in the City Council's decision to forward the Comprehensive Plan to the Metropolitan Council. The following is a discussion as to any conflict on that issue. An official conflict of interest occurs when a public officer has a personal interest in a decision that he or she has .:he power to make. The Mayor is an elected official and therefore is subject to conflict of interest scrutiny. In general public officers may not have a personal financial interest in any city contract, may not hold two positions if the positions' functions are inconsistent with one another and may not have a self interest in a non-contract matter. The present facts do not involve a contrac{-sudh as the sale of land or lSurchase Bfpei's0nal property and therefore, this memorandum will not further address "contract" conflicts of interest. A non-contract conflict of interest is a situation where a contract is not involved but rather local decisions such as zoning, special assessments and licensing, etc. are the primary issues. Financial considerations may or may not be part of non-contract fact situations. The question in non-contract situations is whether the public official is disqualified from acting because of personal interest and this is the category of con fl icts of interest which could be present in the pending issue. The Minnesota Supreme Court addressed this issue in Lenz v. Coon Creek Watershed District 153 N.W.2d 209 (1967), which is Minnesota's landmark case on non-contract conflict of interest issues. In Lenz., the Court held: The purpose behind the creation of a rule which would disqualify public officials from participating in proceedings in a decision making capacity when they have a direct interest in its outcome is to ensure that their decision will not be an arbitrary reflection of their own selfish interest. There is no set-tled general rule as to whether such an interest will disqualify an official. Each case must be decided on the basis of the particular facts present. Among the rele-vant factors that should be considered in making this determination are: (1) the nature of the decision being made; (2) the nature of the pecuniary interest; (3) the number of officials making the decision who are interested; (4) the need, if any, to have interested persons make the decision; and (5) the other means available, if any, such as the opportunity for review, that serve to ensure that the officials will not act arbitrarily to further their selfish interest Lenz, Id. 219.