Code of Conduct
Town of Lynnfield
Board of Selectmen
Code of Conduct
May 6, 2013
As elected members of the Lynnfield Board of Selectmen, we accept this high honor and the trust that has been placed in us to ensure that the Town of Lynnfield, its residents, Town Administrator, department heads, employees and volunteers are respected, helping to ensure a sound foundation of how we operate our town. In acceptance of this role we commit to the following:
Board of Selectmen members, in relation to the community:
- Realize that each Board member is one of a team of three and must abide by, and carry out, all Board decisions once they are made.
- Remember that each member represents the entire community as a whole at all times.
- Acceptance of the role of a Board member is unselfish service, and not to benefit personally or politically from their Board activities.
- Abide by the ethics guidelines established by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
- Always maintain the confidentiality of privileged information.
- Recognize that authority rests only with the majority decisions of the Board, and members wil make no independent commitments nor take any independent actions that may compromise the Board as a whole.
Board of Selectmen members, in relation to the Town Administrator:
- Realize that the Board’s basic function is to make policy, with administration duties delegated to the Town Administrator to carry out the day-to-day operations of the town.
- Endeavor to establish sound, clearly defined and communicated policies that will support and benefit the administration, the staff and residents of the community.
- Recognize and support the administrative chain of command and refuse to act on complaints as an individual outside this code of conduct.
- Not give instructions to, or request assistance from Town department heads, but rather channel all such activities and requests through the Town Administrator to the Board.
Board of Selectmen members, in relation with other Board members:
- Work to build trust between and among Board members and the Town Administrator by treating everyone with dignity and respect, even in times of disagreement.
- Strive to have no surprises for the Board or Town Administrator. All Board members will receive the same information on all topics in a timely manner.
- Respect the leadership roles of the Board Chair and the Town Administrator.
- Not to make statements or promises of how they will vote on matters that will come before the Board until they have had the opportunity to hear the pros and cons of the issue during a Board meeting.
- Uphold the intent of executive session and respect the privileged communication that exists in executive session.
- Refrain from communicating the position of the Board to such entities as media, state officials and residents unless the full Board has previously agreed on both the position and the language of a statement conveying the position.
- When presenting individual opinions and positions Board members shall explicitly state they do not represent the Board or the Town of Lynnfield nor will they allow the inference that they do.
- Treat with respect, the rights of all Board members despite differences of opinions.
Board of Selectmen members, in relation with Town staff:
- Treat all staff as professionals, with clear and honest communication that respects the abilities, experience, and dignity of each individual.
- Requests for materials and information from Town staff should be directed through the Town Administrator, or Administrative Assistant.
- Never publicly criticize an individual employee. Concerns about staff performance should only be made to the Town Administrator through a private conversation.
- Insure that all materials or information provided to a Board member, be made available to all Board members.
- Refer constituent complaints and concerns to the appropriate Board liaison and the Town Administrator.
(Please note: This code of conduct was developed based on similar codes used by other elected boards and committees in other communities