Temporary Assignment
Do the City's ethics laws permit appointed officers and employees from the Administrative or Executive Branch to be temporarily assigned to the Office of the City Commissioners?
Yes. City appointed officers and employees who are carrying out the legally mandated duties to support the administration of public elections are not engaging in political activity. This applies to Administrative and Executive Branch officers and employees temporarily assigned to carry out election-related work on behalf of the City Commissioners. See General Counsel Opinion 2019-504.
Under the State Election Code, there are additional restrictions on certain employees of the Police Department that may limit their ability to be temporarily assigned to the City Commissioners. For more information about political activity for employees of the Police Department, click here.
If I accept a temporary assignment, are there additional restrictions on my personal political activity?
Yes, but taking a temporary assignment with the Commissioners' Office will mean that you are subject to additional restrictions on political activity during certain time periods (unless you work for the Police Department, Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney’s Office, or Board of Ethics which are already subject to same restrictions as the Commissioners’ Office). See General Counsel Opinion 2020-509.
As an employee temporarily assigned to the Commissioners, you may not volunteer for a political campaign, political party, or partisan political group in support of any candidate for elective office for:
the entirety of each calendar day of the assignment;
the entirety of Election Day; and
each of the ten calendar days preceding Election Day through the end of the last calendar day on which all such temporarily assigned duties are completed.
What if I am interested in a temporary assignment and I am currently volunteering for a political campaign?
You cannot do both at the same time. In order for an administrative branch employee to be eligible for a temporary assignment to the City Commissioners that occurs on or after Election Day, you must not have taken any part in any political campaign or engaged in political activity in coordination with a political party, political campaign, or partisan political group on Election Day or on any of the ten days preceding the election. If you engage in campaign activity on or after October 24, you are not eligible for temporary assignment to perform duties related to the November 3 General Election.