Advisory Opinion No. 2003-19

Re: Michael E. Embury

QUESTION PRESENTED

The petitioner, a former Middletown Town Administrator, a municipal appointed position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether, on behalf of his private employer, he may represent clients before boards and commission in the Town of Middletown immediately following his resignation from office.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner, a former Middletown Town Administrator, a municipal appointed position, may represent clients before boards and commissions in the Town of Middletown, on behalf of his private employer, immediately following his resignation from office.

The petitioner represents that he resigned from his position as Middletown Town Administrator in December of 2002. He states that on January 3, 2003 he accepted employment with Northeast Engineers & Consultants, Inc., a firm located in the Town of Middletown. Additionally, the petitioner informs that his separation agreement with the Middletown Town Council does not contain any employment restrictions.

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. Additionally, 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.

In past advisory opinions, the Commission has opined that public officials may represent clients before municipal boards and commissions, of which they were not a member, immediately following the expiration of their term of office. See A.O. 2003-6 (holding that a Cranston City Councilor may represent 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); 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).

Here, the petitioner seeks to appear before Middletown boards and commissions of which he was not a member. As such, the provisions of R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(e)(4), which prohibit a public official from appearing before his former agency for one year after he has severed his position with the agency, are not applicable here since the petitioner was not a member of or employed by any board or commission in the Town of Middletown. Further, Commission Regulation 36-14-5008, which prohibits a Town Official from appearing as an attorney or agent for compensation before an agency over which he exercises fiscal or jurisdictional control, no longer applies to the petitioner since he resigned from office on December 3, 2002. Accordingly, it is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner may represent clients before municipal boards and commissions in the Town of Middletown immediately upon his resignation from office.

Code Citations:

36-14-5(e)

36-14-5008

Related Advisory Opinions:

2003-6

97-139

97-97

Keywords:

Acting as Agent

Post Employment

Revolving Door