Advisory Opinion No. 2005-50

Re:  John DiMaio

QUESTION PRESENTED:

The petitioner, a Councilman for the Town of Johnston, a municipal elected position, requests an advisory opinion regarding whether he may vote to ratify a contract between the Town and the police union, given that as a retired member of the Town's police department he will be financially impacted by changes to the retirement sections of the police contract.

RESPONSE:

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner, a Councilman for the Town of Johnston, a municipal elected position, may not vote to ratify a contract between the Town and the police union, given that as a retired member of the Town's police department he will be financially impacted by changes to the retirement sections of the police contract.

The petitioner is a Councilman for District 3 in the Town of Johnston.  He represents that one of his responsibilities as a Councilman is to ratify all contracts given out by the Town.  Among these Town contracts, according to the petitioner, is the Town's contract with the police union.  The petitioner advises that he retired from the Johnston Police Department in 2004.  He states that one contract which will come before the Town Council is the police union contract.  The petitioner represents that proposed changes to the contract would financially impact the petitioner's retirement benefits.  Given these representations, the petitioner asks whether the Code of Ethics would prohibit him from voting on the ratification of the contract. 

Under the Code of Ethics, a public official may not participate in any matter in which he 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 has an interest in substantial conflict with his official duties if it is reasonably foreseeable that a “direct monetary gain” or a “direct monetary loss” will accrue, by virtue of the public official’s activity, to the official, his family member, his business associate, his employer or any business by which he is employed or which he represents.  R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-7(a); Regulation 36-14-7001.  Furthermore, a public official may not use his public office or confidential information received through his office to obtain financial gain, other than that provided by law, for himself, his family member, his business associate, his employer or any business he represents.  R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(d). 

In a recent advisory opinion, the Commission opined that the Mayor of the Town of Cumberland, who was also a retired member of the Town’s police department, could not participate in contract negotiations between the Town and the Fraternal Order of Police, given that he would have been financially impacted by the changes to the retirement sections of the police contract.  See, A.O. 2005-28.  Here, the petitioner has clearly represented that he stands to be financially impacted by changes to the retirement sections of the police union contract.  For this reason, the aforementioned provisions of the Code of Ethics require his recusal from participating in and voting on the ratification of the police union contract.  Notice of recusal should be filed with the Commission pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws §     36-14-6. 

Code Citations:

36-14-5(a)

36-14-5(d)

36-14-6

36-14-7(a)

Regulation 36-14-7001

Related Advisory Opinions:

2005-28

2004-16

2000-5

98-166

98-162

Keywords:

Financial Interest