Advisory Opinion No. 2011-31

Re: Steven P. Calenda

QUESTION PRESENTED

The Petitioner, a member of the Warren Zoning Board, a municipal appointed position, requests an advisory opinion regarding whether the Code of Ethics prohibits his participation in a Zoning Board matter involving his great aunt.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, a member of the Warren Zoning Board, a municipal appointed position, may participate in a Zoning Board matter involving his great aunt.

The Petitioner is a member of the Warren Zoning Board (“Zoning Board”). He represents that while reviewing the agenda for an upcoming Zoning Board meeting, he noticed that one of the items is an application by Louise Ferrazzano for a variance and special use permit. He informs that Mrs. Ferrazzano’s late husband was the brother of his grandmother, making Mrs. Ferrazzano his great aunt-in-law.

Commission Regulation 36-14-5004 (“Regulation 5004”), entitled “Nepotism,” specifically prohibits persons subject to the Code of Ethics from participating in any matter as part of his public duties if he “has reason to believe or expect that any person within his [] family, or any household member, is a party to or a participant in such matter, or will derive a direct monetary gain or suffer a direct monetary loss, or obtain an employment advantage, as the case may be.” Regulation 5004(b)(1). The phrase “any person within his or her family” is defined as follows:

“Any person within his or her family” means, in addition to any other definition, any person who is related to any public official or public employee, whether by blood, marriage or adoption, as any of the following: spouse, father, step-father, father-in-law, mother, step-mother, mother-in-law, son, step-son, son-in-law, daughter, step-daughter, daughter-in-law, brother, step-brother, brother-in-law, sister, step-sister, sister-in-law, grandfather, step-grandfather, grandfather-in-law, grandmother, step-grandmother, grandmother-in-law, grandson, step-grandson, grandson-in-law, granddaughter, step-granddaughter, granddaughter-in-law, uncle, step-uncle, uncle-in-law, aunt, step-aunt, aunt-in-law, niece, step-niece, niece-in-law, nephew, step-nephew, nephew-in-law, first cousin, step-first cousin and first-cousin-in-law.

Regulation 5004(a)(2).

A great aunt is defined as a “sister of one’s grandparent.” The American Heritage Dictionary 793 (3d ed. 1996). Consistent with this definition, the wife of the brother of one's grandparent is one's great aunt-in-law. While Regulation 5004 specifically enumerates such familial relations as “aunt” and “aunt-in-law,” it does not include the term "great aunt" or "great aunt-in-law," and therefore does not apply to such extended relations. As such, it is the opinion of the Ethics Commission that the Petitioner’s great aunt-in-law is not a “person within his [] family” as that phrase is defined in Regulation 5004(a)(2). Accordingly, the Petitioner is not prohibited by the Code of Ethics from participating in a Warren Zoning Board matter involving Mrs. Ferrazzano, his great aunt-in-law.

Code Citations:

Commission Regulation 5004

Keywords:

Nepotism