Advisory Opinion No. 2001-10

Re: John Nardolillo, Jr.

QUESTION PRESENTED

The petitioner, a Cranston City Councilor, a municipal elected position, whose private employment is as a police officer in the Town of Johnston, requests an advisory opinion as to whether he may participate and vote on matters involving the City of Cranston's police officers given that the union/bargaining agent for public safety officers in Cranston is the same as the union/bargaining agent for public safety officers in Johnston, albeit different locals, and that he is currently serving as the elected bargaining agent of his own union's local.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner, a Cranston City Councilor, a municipal elected position, may participate and vote on matters involving the City of Cranston's public safety officers during calendar year 2001 insofar as the terms of employment and compensation for those officers already is set for this year pursuant to contracts that were negotiated prior to the petitioner taking office as a member of the City Council. Also, the petitioner's term as the bargaining agent for his own local in the Town of Johnston extends only to the end of the 2001 calendar year. The petitioner has represented that he likely will not seek reelection as the bargaining agent for his own local at the end of his current term. Assuming that he does not seek reelection, the petitioner may participate and vote on matters involving the City of Cranston's public safety officers after his current term as bargaining agent ends without restriction as he will no longer be a business associate of the local that represents the officers in the City of Cranston.

The petitioner advises that he is a police officer in the Town of Johnston, having been so employed for approximately twenty years. In that employment he is a member of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers - Local 307. In addition, he recently won election as that local's bargaining agent. His term runs through December 31, 2001. Police officers in the City of Cranston also belong to the International Brotherhood of Police Officers. Their local is #301. As a member of the Cranston City Council it is likely that the petitioner will be faced with the prospect of participating and/or voting on matters involving Local #301, although during calendar year 2001 any votes would be dictated by an existing contractual agreement between the City and Local #301, without any discretionary authority on behalf of the City Council to alter the existing terms of the contract, which was negotiated and approved prior to the petitioner's election to the Council.

During calendar year 2001 the Cranston City Council and Local #301 are bound by the terms of an existing contract. Any actions by the petitioner, whether with respect to annual budgets or ratifications, that merely comport with the existing contractual terms, do not fall within the prohibitions of the Code of Ethics. Conversely, were the petitioner to be faced with a situation where, as a member of the City Council, he could exercise discretionary authority as to Local #301 the Code of Ethics would require that he not participate. As an officer of Local #307 he is a business associate of its parent organization, the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, as well as of Local #301. The law prohibits him from participating in matters that would affect his business associates.

Once his terms as the bargaining agent for Local #307 expires, however, he will no longer be an officer of that local and, therefore, will cease to be a business associate of either the parent organization or of Local #301. As a result, once his term as the bargaining agent for Local #307 expires he may, without restriction, participate and vote on matters affecting Local #301 specifically and the public safety officers in the City of Cranston generally.

Code Citations:

36-14-5(a)

36-14-5(d)

36-14-6

Related Advisory Opinions:

99-4

98-172

98-162

98-130

98-32

97-118

97-65

97-52

96-96

96-60

95-54

95-63

95-64

96-69

95-70

95-75

95-23

94-44

94-29

94-27

92-53

Keywords:

Business Associate

Contracts

Negotiations

Unions/bargaining unit