Advisory Opinion No. 2017-34 Rhode Island Ethics Commission Advisory Opinion No. 2017-34 Approved: August 8, 2017 Re: Andranik Tahmassian QUESTION PRESENTED: The Petitioner, a former Principal Civil Engineer in the Bridge Design Section of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, a state employee position, requests an advisory opinion regarding the application of the revolving door provisions of the Code of Ethics in light of his new private employment with a private engineering firm. RESPONSE: It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, a former Principal Civil Engineer in the Bridge Design Section of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, a state employee position, is prohibited by the Code of Ethics from representing himself or others, including his new private employer, or acting as an expert witness, before the Rhode Island Department of Transportation for a period of one year following the date of severance from his state employment. The Petitioner was employed as a Principal Civil Engineer in the Bridge Design Section of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (“RIDOT”) for Twenty-Eight (28) years until his retirement in December of 2016. There, he was responsible for the complete design and analysis of numerous in-house bridge projects, performing emergency bridge safety inspections and conducting design reviews with various consultants on bridge replacement and preservation projects. The Petitioner states that recently he accepted a position with GM2 Associates (“GM2”), a private engineering firm with offices in Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. The Petitioner represents that his duties include the performance of various structural engineering tasks related to bridges, buildings and special structures. More specifically, the Petitioner explains that he will be assisting engineers of the firm with construction inspections, bridge safety inspections, design and drawing reviews, constructability reviews, and preparation of specifications and reports. The Petitioner further states that although GM2 is currently working on a project for RIDOT, he is not involved with said project and he will not meet with RIDOT personnel nor prepare or present any documents relative to the project. The Petitioner represents that he is aware that the Code of Ethics and its “revolving door” provisions prohibit him from representing himself or others, or acting as an expert witness before RIDOT. Given this set of facts and representations, the Petitioner seeks guidance from the Ethics Commission on the application of the “revolving door” provisions of the Code of Ethics. The Code of Ethics prohibits a public official or employee from representing himself, representing other persons or organizations, or acting as an expert witness before a state or municipal agency of which he is a member or by which he is employed. R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(e)(“section 5(e)”). A person represents himself or another person before an agency when he participates in the presentation of evidence or arguments before that agency for the purpose of influencing the judgment of that agency. Section 36-14-2(12) & (13); Commission Regulation 36-14-5016(a) & (b). This prohibition applies not only during the period of employment, but is extended for a period of one year thereafter. Section 36-14-5(e)(4). Section 5(e)’s prohibitions are designed to minimize any undue influence that a former employee may have over his former agency and colleagues by reason of his past employment there. However, interactions with a former agency that are ministerial in nature and do not involve agency decision-making are not prohibited. See, e.g., A.O. 2013-28 (opining that a former Principal Policy Associate for the Rhode Island Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner (“OHIC”) could accept private employment with Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island during the year following his severance from state employment, provided that he did not represent his private employer before OHIC during that year and any contacts that he had with OHIC were purely ministerial in nature, such as hand delivering documents, reviewing public records, and requesting public information). In addition to section 5(e)’s post-employment restrictions, section 36-14-5(b), (c) and (d) of the Code of Ethics prohibits the use and/or disclosure of confidential information acquired by an official or employee during the course of or by reason of his official employment, particularly for the purpose of obtaining financial gain. The Commission has issued numerous advisory opinions interpreting section 36-14-5(e)(4)’s requirements with respect to former state employees interacting with their former agencies during the one year period following state employment. For example, in Advisory Opinion 2017-13, the Ethics Commission opined that a former Chief Plan Review Officer with the Rhode Island Division of State Fire Marshal, while not prohibited from working for a private engineering and consulting firm specializing in fire protection, was prohibited by the Code of Ethics from representing himself or others, including his new private employer, or acting as an expert witness, before the State Fire Marshal or its representatives for a period of one year following his state employment. The petitioner was also prohibited from using any confidential information he obtained while working for the State Fire Marshal for financial gain. See also A.O. 2012-12 (former senior environmental scientist at DEM is not prohibited by the Code of Ethics from working for the Rhode Island Natural Resources Conservation Service upon his retirement, provided that he does not have any personal involvement with a matter before his former agency for a period of one year following his official date of severance, and he does not disclose confidential information he may have obtained during the course of his state employment). Considering the Petitioner’s above representations and consistent with our past advisory opinions in this area, it is the opinion of the Ethics Commission that the Petitioner is prohibited by the Code of Ethics from representing himself or others, including his new private employer, or acting as an expert witness, before RIDOT for a period of one year following his state employment. Additionally, the Petitioner may not use any confidential information he obtained while working for RIDOT for financial gain. Section 5(b), (c) & (d). 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: § 36-14-2 § 36-14-5(b) § 36-14-5(c) § 36-14-5(d) § 36-14-5(e) Commission Regulation 36-14-5016 Related Advisory Opinions: A.O. 2017-13 A.O. 2013-28 A.O. 2012-12 Keywords: Revolving Door Private Employment Post Employment