Advisory Opinion No. 2003-48

Re: Stephanie Manchester-Wilkie

QUESTION PRESENTED:

The petitioner, a part-time Instructional Aide at Wilbur and McMahon Schools and substitute school bus driver, municipal employee positions, requests an advisory opinion as to whether she may seek election to and serve on the Little Compton Beach Commission, a municipal elected position.

RESPONSE:

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner may seek election to and serve on the Little Compton Beach Commission, a municipal elected position, while simultaneously employed as a part-time Instructional Aide at Wilbur and McMahon Schools and as a substitute school bus driver, municipal employee positions.

Under the Code of Ethics, a public official may not accept other employment which would impair her independence of judgement or require her to disclose confidential information acquired in the course of her official duties. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(b). Additionally, the Code prohibits her from using her public position or confidential information received through her position to obtain financial gain, other than that provided by law, for herself, a family member, a business associate or employer. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(d). R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(a) further provides that she may not participate in any matter in which she has an interest, financial or otherwise, that is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of her 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 her official duties if she 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).

The aforementioned provisions of the Code of Ethics do not create an absolute bar to simultaneous service as both an employee of the Town of Little Compton and as an elected member of the Little Compton Beach Commission. 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, while both are municipal positions within the Town of Little Compton, their areas of responsibilities do not overlap.

Since the petitioner’s duties as a municipal employee, as both an Instructional Aide at Wilbur and McMahon Schools and as a substitute bus driver, are separate and distinct from her duties as a member the Little Compton Beach Commission, there is no indication that serving in both capacities would impair the petitioner's independence of judgment as to her 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.

Code Citations:

36-14-5(a)

36-14-5(b)

36-14-5(d)

36-14-7(a)

Related Advisory Opinions:

2003-46

2000-22

98-168

98-104

98-21

97-31

97-23

95-84

Keywords:

Dual public roles