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<br />Local elected officials and personnel are precluded from meeting with <br />unregistered lobbyists. The Task Force supports the policy of mandating that <br />officers and employees make diligent inquires about a lobbyist's status and the <br />failure of the public official to undertake some reasonable efforts to ascertain the <br />lobbyist's registration status should subject such personnel to an ethics violation. <br /> <br />9. Cone of Silence <br />Section 2-11.1(t) <br /> <br />Recommendation: Verbal communications between a selection committee <br />member and County staff or between bid evaluation staff and County staff <br />will be permitted in limited circumstances, primarily in cases where staff has <br />unique technical knowledge regarding the subject of the solicitation in order <br />to exercise due diligence and develop recommendations for award in the best <br />interest of the County. <br /> <br />Rationale: There are times when a staff possesses unique technical knowledge <br />regarding the subject of the solicitation or knowledge of a proposer's past <br />performance which staff would like to share with bid evaluation staff or a <br />selection committee. Under the current standards, the Cone of Silence would be <br />breached if such conversations took place. The recommendation would create an <br />exception to the Cone of Silence to allow communications for the limited <br />purposes described above, <br /> <br />10. Fines and Sanctions <br />Section 2-11.1(bb) <br /> <br />Recommendation: The Ethics Commission may double the applicable fine <br />when intentional wrongdoing is found. <br /> <br />When a finding of an intentional violation against an employee is made, the <br />Ethics Commission may recommend suspension or termination of the <br />employee. When a finding of an intentional violation of misfeasance or <br />malfeasance is made against a local elected official, the Ethics Commission <br />may recommend suspension or removal from office by notifying the person <br />or legal entity with the lawful authority to take such action. When a finding <br />of an intentional violation of a quasi-judicial or advisory board member is <br />made, the Ethics Commission may recommend removal from the board by <br />notifying the person or legal entity with the lawful authority to effectuate <br />removal. <br /> <br />The Ethics Commission may order disgorgement of any profit received as a <br />result of a party's violation of the provisions of the 2-11.1. <br /> <br />12 <br />