Advisory Opinion No. 2003-47

Re: Ronald Cervasio

QUESTION PRESENTED:

The petitioner, a former member of the Town of Foster Planning Board, a municipal appointed position, requests an advisory opinion regarding whether he may appear before his former board prior to the expiration of one year.

RESPONSE:

It is the opinion of the Rhode IslBand Ethics Commission that the petitioner, a former member of the Town of Foster Planning Board, a municipal appointed position, may not appear before his former board prior to the expiration of one year from his severance of his position in accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(e)(4).

The petitioner informs that his position as a member of the Town of Foster Planning Board was terminated and Commission records indicate that the petitioner’s official date of termination was November 20, 2002. He states that he wishes to bring a subdivision application before the Planning Board. The petitioner seeks this advisory opinion to determine whether the Code of Ethics prohibits him from bringing a subdivision application before the Planning Board prior to the expiration of one-year from his termination.

The Code of Ethics provides that the petitioner may not appear before any state or municipal board of which he is a member or by which he is employed. R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(e)(1). Section 5(e)(4) extends this prohibition for a period of one year after the petitioner has officially severed his position with his former board. Finally, R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 36-14-5 (c) and (d) prohibit the use and/or disclosure of confidential information acquired by an official or employee during the course of or by reason of his official employment, particularly for the purpose of obtaining financial gain.

The Commission consistently has concluded that under the very strict, but very clear, language of Section 5(e) public officials and employees may not appear before their own agency or board before the expiration of one-year from their date of separation. See A.O. 99-125 (finding that a former Department of Health employee or his firm should not appear before his former Division in variance hearings for a period of one-year following the date of the petitioner’s official severance of employment with that agency); A.O. 98-92 (advising former Providence Department of Public Works employee that he should not appear before that his former Department on behalf of his new employer for a period of one year from the date of his official severance from City service except as to ministerial activities such as submitting or retrieving information); and A.O. 96-11 (concluding that a former Senior Budget Analyst should not represent himself, any other person or entity, or act as an expert witness before the State Budget Office for a period of one year after having officially severed his position with that office).

Here, the petitioner wishes to immediately subdivide his property which would require him to appear before his former board prior to the expiration of one year after his official severance from that public entity. As such, it is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner is prohibited from appearing before the Town of Foster Planning Board until November 20, 2003 in accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(e)(4).

Code Citations:

36-14-5(c)

36-14-5(d)

36-14-5(e)(1)

36-14-5(e)(4)

Related Advisory Opinions:

2002-59

2000-58

2000-3

99-126

99-125

98-96

98-92

98-13

97-146

97-18

96-102

96-84

96-11

Keywords:

Revolving door