Along with six other cities in the state, Gainesville received the designation at the Georgia Municipal Association’s Mayor’s Day Conference on Sunday. The cities of Duluth, Jenkinsburg, Senoia, Tallapoosa, Union Point and Walnut Grove were also designated certified cities of ethics.
To become a certified city of ethics, the council must adopt ethics ordinances that are approved bya GMA committee. The ordinance must endorse principals of ethical behavior for city employees, such as using city resources efficiently and economically, treating all people fairly and creating an environment of honesty, openness and integrity, said Amy Henderson, spokeswoman for GMA.
To be approved, ethics ordinances must define an ethics violation and the consequences for violating the ordinance.
Gainesville passed its ethics ordinance in September 2007. It can be viewed at the city of Gainesville Web site.
The GMA-sponsored program for the certified city of ethics is nearly 10 years in the making. The program was developed by businessmen and government leaders, and encourages city officials to adopt a set of ethical principles and an ethics ordinance, according to a GMA press release.
"This is something that (city officials) can show to their community and their business leaders in particular and say ‘this is how we’re operating,’" Henderson said. "‘If we don’t handle things this way, there’s something you can do about it.’"
There are nearly 200 certified cities of ethics in Georgia.