The authority hereby adopts the declaration of the legislature found in RCW 42.52.900 that ethics in government are the foundation on which the structure of government rests and that state officials and employees of government hold a public trust that obligates them, in a special way, to honesty and integrity in fulfilling the responsibilities to which they are appointed. Paramount in that trust in the principal that public office may not be used for personal gain or private advantage. The authority acknowledges that it is an agency as defined in RCW 42.52.010(1) and its members and employees are subject to the applicable terms and conditions of chapter 42.52 RCW with respect to ethics in public service.