My mother used to be on the city council in my small town. At one point, one of my uncle's neighbors applied for a variance to build closer to a lot line than allowed by city ordinances. Because her brother would be affected, when it came up for a vote, she attempted to abstain. However, the city attorney told her that she could not because she had no personal financial interest in the matter. Although to casual observers, abstaining might appear to be the best course of action to avoid any appearance of impropriety, that might not be how the law sees it. You may indeed need a direct financial interest for ethics laws to be violated.
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Date: 2008-10-12 05:49 pm (UTC)My mother used to be on the city council in my small town. At one point, one of my uncle's neighbors applied for a variance to build closer to a lot line than allowed by city ordinances. Because her brother would be affected, when it came up for a vote, she attempted to abstain. However, the city attorney told her that she could not because she had no personal financial interest in the matter. Although to casual observers, abstaining might appear to be the best course of action to avoid any appearance of impropriety, that might not be how the law sees it. You may indeed need a direct financial interest for ethics laws to be violated.
That's my story. The End.