Advisory Opinion No. 2003-39

Re: Charles M. Poirier

QUESTION PRESENTED:

The petitioner, a member of the Glocester Town Council, a municipal elected position, requests an advisory opinion regarding whether he may participate and vote on the Town's funding of the purchase of a parcel of land from the Glocester Housing Authority, given his prior status as a member of the Housing Authority at the time it purchased the lot and decided to offer it for sale to the Town.

RESPONSE:

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner, a member of the Glocester Town Council, a municipal elected position, may participate and vote on the Town's funding of the purchase of a parcel of land from the Glocester Housing Authority, notwithstanding his prior status as a member of the Housing Authority at the time it purchased the lot and decided to offer it for sale to the Town.

The petitioner represents that he is the former Chairman of the Glocester Housing Authority ("GHA"). In November 2002, the GHA purchased a parcel of land in Chepachet at auction for $27,000. The intent of the GHA was to offer to sell the land to the Town of Glocester at its cost, minus a $10,000 "donation" from the GHA. Aware that the Town had no discretionary funds to purchase the land in that fiscal year, the GHA agreed to offer the land for sale to the town in the following (2003-2004) fiscal year, giving the Town Council the opportunity to place the purchase under special appropriations in the 2003-2004 budget.

The petitioner was thereafter elected to the Glocester Town Council, and ceased being a member of the GHA. The petitioner represents that the Town Council must now decide whether to include the land purchase as an item in the budget for consideration at the Financial Town Meeting. The petitioner asks whether the Code of Ethics allows him to participate in this decision, given his aforementioned prior status as a GHA member involved in the purchase of the land.

The Code of Ethics provides that the petitioner may not participate in any matter in which he, his family, or a business associate has an interest, financial or otherwise, which is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of his duties in the public interest. R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(a). An official will have an interest in substantial conflict with his official duties if he has a reason to believe or expect that a "direct monetary gain" or a "direct monetary loss" will accrue, by virtue of the public official's activity, to the official, a family member, a business associate, an employer, or any business which the public official represents. R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-7(a). Also, pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(d), the petitioner is prohibited from using his public position or confidential information received through his position to obtain financial gain, other than that provided by law, for himself, a business associate, or any business by which he is employed or represents. Finally, the Code of Ethics provides that the petitioner should 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. 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.

Applying the facts as represented to these provisions of the Code, the petitioner is not prohibited from participating in Town Council matters involving the Town's purchase of land from the GHA, including a vote on the inclusion of this item in the budget for consideration at the Financial Town Meeting. Any association the petitioner had with GHA at the time of his Chairmanship terminated upon his leaving the GHA. Accordingly, the petitioner's participation in issues relating to the land purchase will not impact a "business associate." Furthermore, the petitioner is not using confidential information he obtained while a member of the GHA, based upon his representation that the GHA's plans to purchase the land and offer it for sale to the Town were stated in the public minutes of a GHA meeting. Finally, the petitioner is not seeking to appear before the GHA, so the prohibitions contained in section 5(e) do not apply.

Code Citations:

36-14-5(a)

36-14-5(d)

36-14-5(e)

36-14-7(a)

Keywords:

Dual Public Roles