Advisory Opinion No. 2003-6

Re: John O. Mancini, Esq.

QUESTION PRESENTED

The petitioner, a Cranston City Councilor, a municipal elected position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether he may represent private clients before boards and commissions in the City of Cranston upon the expiration of his term of office.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner, a Cranston City Councilor, a municipal elected position, may represent private clients before boards and commissions in the City of Cranston upon the expiration of his term of office. However, he is prohibited from appearing before the Cranston City Council during the one-year period following his severance from the Council. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(e)(4).

The petitioner advises that his term of office as a Cranston City Councilor will expire on January 6, 2003. He represents that he is an attorney with a private practice in land use and zoning matters. He states that he is cognizant that the Code of Ethics prohibits his representation of clients before the City Council during the one-year period following his expiration of office. However, he inquires as to his ability to represent clients before boards and commissions in the City of Cranston, such as the Zoning Board, Planning Board and Cranston Historical Commission.

The Code of Ethics provides that the petitioner may not represent himself or any other person before any state or municipal agency of which he is a member or by which he is employed. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(e)(1), (2). Section 36-14-5(e)(4) extends these prohibitions for a period of one year after the petitioner has officially severed his position with the agency. Commission Regulation 36-14-5008 prohibits the petitioner from acting as an attorney or agent for compensation before municipal entities over which he exercises fiscal or jurisdictional control in any matter in which the municipality has an interest or is a party.

The Commission concludes that the petitioner may represent clients before municipal boards and commissions in the City of Cranston, other than the City Council, immediately upon the expiration of his term of office. See A.O. 97-139 (concluding that a former Jamestown Town Councilor immediately may appear on behalf of clients of his law firm before the Jamestown Tax Assessment Board of Review Board); A.O. 97-97 (finding that a former Jamestown Town Councilor will not violate the Code of Ethics if he immediately represents clients before the Municipal Court, the Zoning Board and the Planning Board for the Town of Jamestown).

Section 5(e)(4)’s prohibitions are inapplicable to the petitioner’s appearance before other municipal agencies of which he was not a member. Further, Commission Regulation 36-14-5008 will no longer apply to the petitioner after his term of office expires on January 6, 2003. While the petitioner may not represent clients in matters before the Cranston City Council until January 6, 2004, said prohibition does not extend to other municipal bodies of which he was not a member.

Code Citations:

36-14-5(e)

36-14-5008

Related Advisory Opinions:

97-139

97-97

97-73

96-88

88-24

88-09

Keywords:

Acting as Agent

Revolving Door