Advisory Opinion No. 2003-46 Re: The Honorable Daniel Connors QUESTION PRESENTED The petitioner, a legislator serving as a State Senator, a state elected position, requests an advisory opinion regarding whether he may accept employment as the Director of Human Resources for the Town of Cumberland. RESPONSE It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner, a legislator serving as a State Senator, a state elected position, may accept employment as the Director of Human Resources for the Town of Cumberland. The petitioner represents that he currently serves as a Senator for Senate District 19. He informs that he has been offered employment as the Director of Human Resources for the Town of Cumberland. The petitioner seeks guidance as to whether the Code of Ethics prohibits such simultaneous service. Under the Code of Ethics, a public official may not participate in any matter in which he has an interest, financial or otherwise, that is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of his duties or employment in the public interest. See 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. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-7(a). R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(b) further provides that he may not accept other employment which would impair his independence of judgement or require him to disclose confidential information acquired in the course of his official duties. Additionally, the Code prohibits him 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 family member, a business associate or employer. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(d). When enacting the Code of Ethics, the General Assembly included as one of its legislative purposes the elimination of appearances of impropriety. The legislature did not, however, make the appearance of impropriety a violation of the law. Therefore, if, in a particular situation a public official believes his official action would create an appearance of impropriety, he may recuse, although he is not required to do so. The aforementioned provisions of the Code of Ethics do not create an absolute bar to simultaneous service as a State Senator and as a municipal Director of Human Services. Rather, those provisions require a matter by matter evaluation and determination as to whether substantial conflicts of interest exist with respect to carrying out an official’s duties in the public interest. Here, the sovereign the petitioner serves as an elected member of the State Senate is different from the sovereign he would serve as the Director of Human Resources in the Town of Cumberland. Since the petitioner’s duties as State Senator and as the Director of Human Resources for the Town of Cumberland are separate and distinct, there is no indication that serving in both capacities would impair the petitioner's independence of judgment as to his public responsibilities. Nor is there any indication that the simultaneous service in and of itself creates a substantial conflict with respect to carrying out duties in the public interest. However, if matters come before the petitioner as a member of the State Senate that would have a financial impact on his employment or employer, he is cautioned to either recuse out of an abundance of caution in accordance with the provision set forth in R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-6 or to seek further guidance from the Ethics Commission. Code Citations: 36-14-5(a) 36-14-5(b) 36-14-5(d) 36-14-6 36-14-7(a) Related Advisory Opinions: 2000-22 98-168 98-104 98-21 97-31 97-23 95-84 Keywords: Dual public roles