Advisory Opinion No. 2011-30 Advisory Opinion No. 2011-30 Re: George R. Charette QUESTION PRESENTED The Petitioner, a member and chair of the Glocester Planning Board, a municipal appointed position, requests an advisory opinion regarding whether he may participate in and vote on an application for a development plot plan review, given that the applicant is someone for whom he previously worked. RESPONSE It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, a member and chair of the Glocester Planning Board, a municipal appointed position, may participate in and vote on an application for a development plot plan review, notwithstanding the fact that the applicant is someone for whom he previously worked. The Petitioner is a member and the chair of the Glocester Planning Board (“Planning Board”). He informs that Jay Forgue has an application for a development plot plan review presently before the Planning Board. The Petitioner states that from September 2010 through January 2011, he performed and has completed three different woodworking projects for Mr. Forgue. He represents that he has been paid in full by Mr. Forgue’s business, Torbillion Trailer Sales. Additionally, he states that his business relationship with Mr. Forgue ended in January of 2011 and he has no intention or plans to work for him again. The Petitioner represents that he recused from Mr. Forgue’s matter before the Planning Board initially, and now he seeks guidance as to whether the Code of Ethics prohibits his participation and voting on this matter going forward. A person subject to the Code of Ethics, such as the Petitioner, may not participate in any matter in which he has an interest, financial or otherwise, which is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of his duties in the public interest. R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(a). A substantial conflict of interest occurs if the Petitioner has reason to believe or expect that he or any family member or business associate, or any business by which he is employed, will derive a direct monetary gain or suffer a direct monetary loss by reason of his official activity. Section 36-14-7(a). A business associate is defined as “a person joined together with another person to achieve a common financial objective.” Section 36-14-2(3). This Commission has consistently found that no conflict of interest under of the Code of Ethics exists when a prior business relationship between a public official and a private party has ended and there is no ongoing or anticipated future relationship between the parties; in such instances, a public official may participate in matters involving his or her former employer or business associate, assuming no other conflicts are present. A.O. 2011-9 (opining that a member of the East Providence City Council was not prohibited from participating in and voting on issues involving her past business associate). See also A.O. 2008-7 (opining that the petitioner’s former general membership in a yacht club, where there was no ongoing or anticipated future relationship between the parties, did not constitute a conflict of interest); A.O. 2004-3 (opining that provided all work has been completed, no bills remained outstanding for services rendered, and the parties did not anticipate the performance of specific additional work in the near future, no business association presently existed between the petitioner and a bidder for a city contract). In the present matter, the Petitioner represents that his business relationship with Mr. Forgue has ended, he has been paid in full, and there is no anticipated future business dealings between them. Therefore, it is the opinion of the Ethics Commission that the Petitioner is not prohibited by the Code of Ethics from participating in and voting on Mr. Forgue’s application for a development plot plan review, notwithstanding the fact that he previously worked for Mr. Forgue. Code Citations: § 36-14-5(a) § 36-14-7(a) § 36-14-2(3) Related Advisory Opinions: A.O. 2011-9 A.O. 2009-23 A.O. 2008-7 A.O. 2004-3 Keywords: Business Associate