§ 2-49. Transactions involving elected officials.

(a)

The mayor or a member of the municipal governing authority ("elected official"), or a legal entity in which the elected official has a controlling interest, may enter into a transaction under the supervision or jurisdiction of the village only pursuant to this section.

(b)

The elected official must immediately recuse himself from acting in his governmental capacity in any matter affecting the transaction and file quarterly affidavits concerning such recusal with the municipal clerk and with the board of ethics. The affidavit shall set out the name and address of the elected official, the name and population of the village, and a description of all such transactions that occurred during the preceding quarter. The affidavit shall be filed with the municipal clerk and the board of ethics on or before the end of the month following the expiration of the quarter.

(c)

After recusal, purchase requisitions or orders regarding the transaction must be signed by the municipal clerk and payment for the transaction must be made by check signed by the municipal clerk or treasurer and the mayor or a member of the board who is not involved in the transaction.

(d)

Any individual transaction of $250.00 or less is not subject to subsection (e) of this section unless all transactions involving the elected official exceeds $2,500.00 in the aggregate within the calendar year.

(e)

Transaction in excess of $250.00, but less than $2,500.00.

(1)

Any transaction in excess of $250.00 but less than $2,500.00 shall be made by obtaining telephone quotations with written confirmation or facsimile quotations from at least three vendors with the village, the parish, or within a 50-mile radius of the village. If the quotation submitted by the elected official or legal entity in which he has a controlling interest, is the lowest received by the village, the transaction is authorized.

(2)

However, in the case of an emergency, no quotation shall be required, provided the elected official recuses himself from the transaction and files an affidavit, as provided in subsection (b) of this section, within three days of the occurrence of the transaction.

(3)

The term "emergency," for the purposes of this subsection, means an unforeseen mischance involving the destruction of property or the injury of life or the threat of such destruction or injury requiring immediate action in the form of construction or repair.

(f)

An elected official, or legal entity in which he has a controlling interest, may enter into a transaction with the village in excess of $2,500.00 only after written invitations are sent to at least three bona fide qualified bidders, other than the elected official or his legal entity, and only upon advance approval by the board of ethics. In such case, the bid process shall be in accordance with R.S. 38:2212(A)(1)(a).

(Code 2004, § 2.13)