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An Ordinance amending and supplementing the Allegheny County Code of Ordinances, Division 2, entitled "County Government Operations," through the creation of a new Chapter 221, entitled "Elected Official Travel," through the creation of a new Article I, entitled “Reporting," in order to establish uniform County policies for evaluating the results and efficacy of travel undertaken by County elected officials.
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WHEREAS, the County's elected officials from time to time undertake travel on County business; and
WHEREAS, certain of these trips are funded with revenues ultimately derived from the County's taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, it is the sense of Council that the results of these trips should be disclosed to the taxpayers from whom the trip funding was derived;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby enacts as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Allegheny County Code of Ordinances, Division 2, entitled "County Government Operations," through the creation of a new Chapter 221, entitled "Elected Official Travel," through the creation of a new Article I, entitled “Reporting," and comprised of the following new sections:
Chapter 221
Elected Official Travel
Article II
Reporting
§221-1. Definitions.
For the purposes of this Article, the following terms shall be given the definitions contained within this Section, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
“County Travel” shall mean all travel outside Allegheny County, undertaken on County business and requiring at least one overnight stay, funded in whole or in part with revenue derived from the County's taxpayers, regardless of the fund from which the revenue is disbursed. For the purposes of this section, funding provided by any County Department or County Authority delineated in §5-203.01 of the Administrative Code of Allegheny County shall be considered “derived from the County's taxpayers.”
“Elected Official” shall mean the Allegheny County Chief Executive or any Member of Allegheny County Council.
§221-2. Reporting Requirement.
A. In any instance in which an Elected Official undertakes County Travel, he or she shall, within 30 days of returning, generate a written summary of the trip. This summary shall include, at a minimum, the destination(s) visited, the purpose(s) of the travel, the duration of the trip, and, to the extent known, the results of the trip. Such results shall include a statement of how the trip benefits or is expected to benefit the residents of Allegheny County and/or aid the County in the provision of services.
B. The written summary required under the terms of this Section shall be made available to the public both in hard copy and on the County's website, and shall be distributed to each Elected Official and the head of each Administrative Department within the County. Hard copies of all summaries shall be retained by the Elected Official who generated them for a period of at least two (2) years.
SECTION 2 . Severability.
If any provision of this Ordinance shall be determined to be unlawful, invalid, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be considered severable from the remaining provisions of this Ordinance which shall be in full force and effect.