Advisory Opinion No. 2017-1 Rhode Island Ethics Commission Advisory Opinion No. 2017-1 Approved: January 10, 2017 Re: Joel D. Mathews QUESTION PRESENTED: The Petitioner, a former part-time Special Projects Administrator for the City of Woonsocket, a municipal employee position, requests an advisory opinion regarding whether he may accept private employment with a business that is considering locating operations within the City. RESPONSE: It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, a former part-time Special Projects Administrator for the City of Woonsocket, a municipal employee position, may accept private employment with a business that is considering locating operations within the City, provided that he does not utilize any confidential information obtained through his prior public employment and that he does not represent his private employer before the City of Woonsocket. The Petitioner represents that he has a background in design, architecture and landscape architecture, and that he worked for the City of Woonsocket (“the City”) for forty-one (41) years, the majority of which serving as the Director of Planning & Development. He states that he came out of retirement approximately two (2) years ago to accept a part-time, three (3) day per week, position as a Special Projects Administrator working with the City’s Planning Department and the Mayor’s Office to assist in projects relating to, among other things, parks, planning and economic development. The Petitioner states that approximately six (6) months ago the owner and CEO of Morgan Shrimp, a business based in Dallas, Texas, contacted the Mayor’s Office to express an interest in locating a shrimp farm in a vacant commercial building in the City. The Petitioner states that the Mayor tasked him with helping Morgan Shrimp to locate a vacant building that was structurally and dimensionally suitable for a shrimp farm operation and to advise the company as to any potential zoning and building code issues. The Petitioner states that shortly after his retirement from the City, in November 2016, he was contacted by Morgan Shrimp’s owner and offered employment as the project representative for the proposed Woonsocket facility as well as second facility proposed for Pawtucket. The Petitioner notes that his duties would be primarily related to scouting and advising as to appropriate locations for operations and advising as to relevant land use or building restrictions. The Petitioner states that, in Woonsocket, no special permits or permissions from the City would be required to commence operations. Nevertheless, the Petitioner represents that he would not represent the company before the City or any of its departments during the year following his retirement from City employment. He also advises that he anticipates that his employment with Morgan Shrimp would terminate upon the company’s commencement of operations. Given these representations, the Petitioner seeks guidance as to the application of the Code of Ethics to this prospective employment. The Code of Ethics prohibits a public employee from using any confidential information he received through his public position to obtain financial gain for himself or his family members, business associates or employer. R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(d). The Code of Ethics also contains certain “revolving door” and “post-employment” provisions which continue to apply for one (1) year after a public official or employee has left his or her public position. In particular, section 36-14-5(e) of the Code of Ethics prohibits a public employee such as the Petitioner from representing himself or any other person or entity, or acting as an expert witness, before any state or municipal agency of which he was a member or by which he was employed for a period of one (1) year after leaving his public position. Section 36-14-5(e)(1), (2) and (4). See A.O. 2016-14 (retiring engineer with the Department of Administration is not prohibited from engaging in private employment as a structural engineer provided that he does not represent his private clients before the Department of Administration or its divisions for one year after leaving state service). In the instant matter, the Petitioner expressly represents: (1) that he will not disclose any confidential information he acquired through his public employment to his private employer; (2) that his employer does not require any special permits, permission or relief from the City in order to implement its plan to locate its business in the City; and (3) that the Petitioner will not represent the business before the City or its departments during the year following his November 2016 retirement from public employment. Given these conditions and representations, it is our opinion that the Code of Ethics does not prohibit the Petitioner from accepting private employment with Morgan Shrimp. This Advisory Opinion is strictly limited to the facts stated herein and relates only to the application of the Rhode Island Code of Ethics. Under the Code of Ethics, advisory opinions are based on the representations made by, or on behalf of, a public official or employee and are not adversarial or investigative proceedings. Finally, this Commission offers no opinion on the effect that any other statute, regulation, ordinance, constitutional provision, charter provision, or canon of professional ethics may have on this situation. Code Citations § 36-14-5(a) § 36-14-5(d) § 36-14-5(e) Related Advisory Opinions A.O. 2016-14 Keywords Business associate Post-employment Revolving door