Minutes March 20, 2012 MINUTES OF THE OPEN SESSION OF THE RHODE ISLAND ETHICS COMMISSION March 20, 2012 The Rhode Island Ethics Commission held its 4th meeting of 2012 at 9:00 a.m. at the Rhode Island Ethics Commission conference room, located at 40 Fountain Street, 8th Floor, Providence, Rhode Island, on Tuesday, March 20, 2012, pursuant to the notice published at the Commission Headquarters, the State House Library, and electronically with the Rhode Island Secretary of State. The following Commissioners were present: J. William W. Harsch, Secretary John D. Lynch, Jr. Frederick K. Butler* Edward A. Magro Mark B. Heffner James V. Murray Also present were Edmund L. Alves, Jr., Commission Legal Counsel; Kent A. Willever, Commission Executive Director; Staff Attorneys Jason Gramitt, Nicole B. DiLibero and Amy C. Stewart; and Commission Investigators Steven T. Cross, Peter J. Mancini and Gary V. Petrarca. At 9:10 a.m. Secretary Harsch opened the meeting. The first order of business was a Legislative Update. Staff Attorney Gramitt informed that he attended a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, two days after the last Commission meeting, regarding Senator O’Neill’s bill to restore the Ethics Commission’s jurisdiction over core legislative acts. He stated that he, John Marion of Common Cause and Al Benson from Operation Clean Government all testified in favor of the bill. He stated that Steve Brown from the Rhode Island ALCU testified in opposition. He stated that the bill was held for further study. The next order of business was the Director’s Report. Executive Director Willever reported that there are 9 complaints (5 of which are non-filing), 1 advisory opinion, and 1 litigation matter pending and that 2 APRA requests have been fulfilled since the last meeting. The next order of business was advisory opinions. The advisory opinions were based on draft advisory opinions prepared by the Commission Staff for review by the Commission and were scheduled as items on the Open Session Agenda for this date. The first advisory opinion was that of: Peter D. Ruggiero, Esq., the Town Solicitor for the Town of Charlestown, on behalf of the Charlestown Town Council, a municipal elected body, requesting an advisory opinion as to whether and how the Town Council may consider and vote on matters pertaining to a lawsuit against the Town of Charlestown and certain individuals, given that three (3) of the five (5) members of the Town Council are parties to the lawsuit. Staff Attorney Stewart presented the Commission Staff recommendation. The Petitioner was not present. She stated that this opinion was amended in accordance with the Commission’s directions to permit both defendants, Ms. Frank and Mr. Avedisian, who are named in their official and individual capacities, to participate in the Town Council’s consideration of the litigation at this time. Commissioner Butler stated that this draft was consistent with the Commission’s discussions at the last meeting. Upon motion made by Commissioner Magro and duly seconded by Commissioner Lynch, it was unanimously VOTED: To issue an advisory opinion, attached hereto, to Peter D. Ruggiero, Esq., the Town Solicitor for the Town of Charlestown. The next order of business was a motion to approve minutes of the Open Session held on March 6, 2012. Upon motion made by Commissioner Butler and duly seconded by Commissioner Lynch, it was unanimously VOTED: To approve the minutes of the Open Session held on March 6, 2012. ABSTENTION: Edward A. Magro. The Commission returned to advisory opinions. The final advisory opinion was that of: Amy R. Tabor, Esq., a part-time teacher at the University of Rhode Island, a state employee position, who in her private capacity is also a practicing attorney, requesting an advisory opinion regarding whether she may represent children with disabilities who attend the Henry Barnard Laboratory School, a department of Rhode Island College, in connection with their right to be provided with reasonable accommodations for their disabilities pursuant to state and federal laws. Staff Attorney Stewart presented the Commission Staff recommendation. The Petitioner was present. Upon motion made by Commissioner Magro and duly seconded by Commissioner Lynch, it was unanimously VOTED: To issue an advisory opinion, attached hereto, to Amy R. Tabor, Esq., a part-time teacher at the University of Rhode Island. At approximately 9:34 a.m., upon motion made by Commissioner Lynch and duly seconded by Commissioner Magro, it was unanimously VOTED: To go into Executive Session, to wit: a) Motion to approve minutes of Executive Session held on March 6, 2012, pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-46-5(a)(2) and (4). b) In re: Frank Sylvester, Complaint No. 2011-2, pursuant to R.I. Gen. laws § 42-46-5(a) and (4). c) Joseph S. Larisa, Jr. v. Rhode Island Ethics Commission et al., C.A. No. PC 11-6938, pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-46-5(a)(2). The Commission reconvened in Open Session at approximately 11:24 a.m. The next order of business was a motion to seal the minutes of the March 20, 2012 Executive Session. Upon motion made by Commissioner Magro and duly seconded by Commissioner Lynch, it was unanimously VOTED: To seal the minutes of the March 20, 2012 Executive Session. Secretary Harsch reported that the Commission took the following actions in Executive Session: 1) unanimously voted to approve the minutes of the Executive Session held on March 6, 2012; 2) found by a vote of 4-2 that probable cause exists in the matter of In re: Frank Sylvester, Complaint No. 2011-2; and 3) had no discussion of the litigation matter, Joseph S. Larisa, Jr. v. Rhode Island Ethics Commission et al., C.A. No. PC 11-6938. At the request of Secretary Harsch, Legal Counsel Alves described the probable cause standard. He stated that the prosecution must make a showing that there is more than a mere suspicion that a violation of the Code of Ethics occurred. He explained that this is a preliminary step and no final decision is made until adjudication with evidence and witnesses. The next matter was an adjudicative hearing in the matter of In re: Frank Hyde, Complaint No. NF2011-2. The hearing was stenographically recorded and a transcript of the proceeding is available at the Commission Offices. Commission Prosecutor Nicole B. DiLibero represented the People of the State of Rhode Island. The Respondent, Frank Hyde, was not present. Commission Prosecutor DiLibero gave an opening statement. Michelle Berg, Ethics Commission Administrative Officer in charge of Financial Disclosure, testified on behalf of the Prosecution. Exhibits 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 were admitted in full. Commission Prosecutor DiLibero gave a closing argument. Upon motion made by Commissioner Murray and duly seconded by Commissioner Magro, it was unanimously VOTED: To find that the Respondent, Frank Hyde, violated R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-16 by failing to file his 2010 Financial Disclosure Statement. Commission Prosecutor DiLibero suggested a fine of $1500 be imposed on the Respondent, Frank Hyde, for this finding of a violation. Upon motion made by Commissioner Butler and duly seconded by Commission Murray, it was unanimously VOTED: To impose a fine of $1500 on the Respondent, Frank Hyde, for failure to file his 2010 Financial Disclosure Statement. The next matter was an adjudicative hearing in the matter of In re: Colette J. Matarese, Complaint No. NF2011-9. The hearing was stenographically recorded and a transcript of the proceeding is available at the Commission Offices. Commission Prosecutor DiLibero represented the People of the State of Rhode Island. The Respondent, Colette J. Matarese, was not present. Commission Prosecutor DiLibero gave an opening statement. Michelle Berg, Ethics Commission Administrative Officer in charge of Financial Disclosure, testified on behalf of the prosecution. Exhibits 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 were admitted in full. Commission Prosecutor DiLibero gave a closing argument. Upon motion made by Commissioner Heffner and duly seconded by Commissioner Murray, it was unanimously VOTED: To find that the Respondent, Colette J. Matarese, violated R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-16 by failing to file her 2010 Financial Disclosure Statement. Commission Prosecutor DiLibero suggested a penalty of $1500 be imposed on the Respondent, Colette J. Matarese, for this finding of a violation. Upon motion made by Commissioner Butler and duly seconded by Commission Magro, it was unanimously VOTED: To impose a fine of $1500 on the Respondent, Colette J. Matarese, for failure to file her 2010 Financial Disclosure Statement. The next order of Business was Financial Disclosure – Online Filing Update. Staff Attorney Gramitt informed that he had originally scheduled a slideshow provided by the contractors developing the online filing database. However, due to the length of this meeting, the presentation had to be cancelled. In its place, Staff Attorney Gramitt passed out packets to the Commission containing copies of screen shots of what the database will look like. * Commissioner Butler left the meeting at 12:09 p.m. Staff Attorney Gramitt informed that the database is on schedule to launch next week. He stated that a required filer will be able to amend their online filing without overriding the previously submitted information, with the database inserting a time stamp with the amended information. He stated that the Commission Staff has worked closely with RI Interactive and the Department of Information Technology on this project. He thanked staff member Michelle Berg for her hours of work on the online filing database. In response to Commissioner Heffner, Staff Attorney Gramitt stated that there will be a way to save this year’s information for subsequent filings. The design of how a required filer will be prompted to select, edit or delete that information will completed as part of Phase 2, which is expected to be done by the end of this year. He agreed with Commissioner Heffner that the import of previously entered information should not be automatic and the plan is to have a question to prompt the filer at each individual section. In response to Commissioner Heffner, Staff Attorney Gramitt replied that he would bring this matter back to the Commission for discussion prior to the launch of Phase 2. The next order of business was New Business. Secretary Harsch suggested that the notices of adjudications should be sent out by registered mail. At 12:20 p.m., upon motion made by Commissioner Magro and duly seconded by Commissioner Lynch, it was unanimously VOTED: To adjourn. Respectfully submitted, __________________ J. William W. Harsch Secretary