NORAN J.

CAMP 212-788-9156 | 212-513-0701 FAX

ETHICS & EMPLOYMENT COUNSEL E-MAIL: NCAMP@COUNCIL.NYC.GOV

MEMORANDUM

To: All Members and Staff

From: Office of the General Counsel

Re: Holiday Parties and Gifts

Dated: December 11, 2008

As the 2008 holiday season begins, we must all take special care to comply with the spirit
and the letter of the laws restricting gifts to public servants by lobbyists or entities having
business dealings with the City. This memorandum (and an attached list of examples), serves
to remind you what those restrictions are, including the restrictions on gift-giving by
lobbyists and their clients, that are imposed by City and state laws, and as interpreted by
recent advisory opinions.

If you have questions about a gift or other offer that you receive, please contact Noran J.
Camp in the Office of the General Counsel (212-788-9156) for guidance.

Lobbyist Holiday Parties

In general, lobbyists and their clients are prohibited from inviting public servants to their
holiday parties. Therefore, Council employees should not accept such invitations.
(However, if the event is either a charitable event, a political event, or is an event attended by
a large number of people and is not simply recreational, you may accept the invitation if the
below requirements applicable to non-lobbyist holiday parties are met.) This applies to
lobbyists registered as such with the City or with New York State. 1 Please consult the
General Counsel’s Office if you have any questions about whether you may attend a
particular party.

1
The registry of such lobbyists is on the Internet: www.nyc.gov/lobbyistsearch [for the City];
https://www.nytscol.org/Menu_LQuery.asp [for New York State]. All lobbyists registered with the
City are also required to be registered with the State.
 Non-Lobbyist Holiday Parties

If an entity has business dealings with the Council – it gets funding through the budget, it
seeks a zoning variance, and the like 2 – you may accept a complimentary invitation to its
holiday party if: (i) the invitation comes from the sponsoring organization itself; (ii) your
Member has authorized it, if you are a Council aide; and (iii) the Speaker has given written
permission, if you are a Central Staff employee.

However, if the entity has no business dealings with the Council, then you may accept, so
long as the invitation comes from the sponsoring organization itself.

Gifts

The following rules apply to holiday and other gifts:

• From Colleagues – Colleagues may give each other gifts, so long as the colleagues are
not in a subordinate / supervisor relationship. Subordinates may not give gifts, of any
size or value, to their supervisors under any circumstances other than where their identity
as gift-givers is not known to the recipient. Thus, “Secret Santa” type of arrangements
are okay. Also, group gifts to a supervisor are okay so long as the group does not reveal
who contributed to the gift.

The Conflicts of Interest Board has ruled that supervisors may give modest gifts to
subordinates as holiday or birthday gifts, and the like, but the value of the gift should not
exceed $25.

● From Lobbyists and their Clients – Lobbyists and their clients generally may not offer or
give holiday and other gifts – including meals, coffee and the like – to public servants.
However, lobbyists and their clients may give gifts of de minimis value, such as a pen,
mug or baseball cap with the entity’s logo, so long as the gift has no resale value. Also,
your family members and close personal friends may still give you gifts on appropriate
social occasions (including the holidays), even if the family member or friend is a
lobbyist or client.

• From entities that have business dealings with the City – Generally, you may accept a
holiday gift (or other gift) from an entity doing business with the City only if the gift is
valued at under $50. If the gift is $50 or more, you generally may not accept it even if it
is perishable (see “What To Do With Impermissible Gifts,” below). Some exemptions

2
Most entities doing business with the City can be found on “Schedule C” to the City’s Budget; in the
City’s Doing Business database, www.nyc.gov/portal/site/DBusinessSite; or in the City’s Vendex
website, http://slnx-prd-web.nyc.gov/cfb/cfbSearch.nyc?method=search.

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 are: if the gift comes from a family member or close personal friend on an appropriate
social occasion (including the holidays); and certain plaques and awards having “no
resale value.”

What To Do If You Receive An Impermissible Gift

If you are in possession of an impermissible gift (including perishable gifts, like food and
flowers), you have several permissible options.

• First, if you can reasonably return the gift, you may do so, perhaps with a respectful
note.

• Second, if the gift can be shared (chocolates or flowers, for example), then you may
place it in a public place so that it may be shared by your entire office and visiting
constituents.

• Third, if the gift can reasonably be displayed as City property, then you may display
it in your office or in another public place (perhaps discretely labeling it so that you
remember not to take it with you when you leave City employment).

If none of the above options applies, you may contact the General Counsel’s office to
consider other options, including the possibility of re-donating the gift to charity or an
appropriate city agency.

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