Summary of Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics Meeting Held on April 4, 2025

​The Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics (COE) took the following action at its monthly public meeting held on April 4, 2025.

The COE approved one advisory opinion. The full opinion will be available on the COE's website within seven days at: https://www.palmbeachcountyethics.com/coepub/ .

RQO 25-004 : An employee asked if the Palm Beach County Code of Ethics (Code) would prohibit her, as a Palm Beach County (County) employee, from accepting part-time outside employment with an agency who has an active contract for services with her County department.

The COE opined as follows : Generally, the Code prohibits public employees from accepting concurrent employment, directly or indirectly, with any "outside employer" who has an active contract with their department. However, considering the facts as presented, including the specific circumstances involved in the contract implementation and the size of the department involved, a limited exception is being implemented in this discrete situation to allow the employee to accept outside employment with a vendor.

Additionally, the COE commissioners and staff engaged in a question and answer session at the historic courthouse to highlight the 15-year anniversary of the COE. Liz Martin, COE Communication and Education Manager, interviewed the commissioners about the history and current role of the COE. This session of the meeting was also open to the public, and the interviews were recorded by PBC's Channel 20.

A detailed explanation of all agenda items is available at http://www.palmbeachcountyethics.com/meetings.htm .