Advisory Opinion No. 2008-17 Rhode Island Ethics Commission Advisory Opinion No. 2008-17 Re: John F. Ward QUESTION PRESENTED: The petitioner, the Finance Director for the Town of Lincoln (“Finance Director”), a municipal appointed position, requests an advisory opinion regarding what conflicts of interest exist under the Code of Ethics, if any, and what limitations or prohibitions are imposed upon him in carrying out his current duties as Finance Director, given that the Town of Lincoln has a customer relationship with The Valley Breeze newspaper, which is owned by Breeze Publications, Inc., of which the petitioner’s brother, Thomas Ward, is the majority owner. RESPONSE: It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner, the Finance Director for the Town of Lincoln (“Finance Director”), a municipal appointed position, may carry out his current duties as Finance Director without running afoul of the Code of Ethics, notwithstanding the fact that the Town of Lincoln has a customer relationship with the Valley Breeze newspaper, which is owned by Breeze Publications, Inc., of which the petitioner’s brother, Thomas Ward, is the majority owner, given the petitioner’s representation that he has no discretionary decision-making authority as Finance Director that would allow him to use his position to benefit his brother’s financial interests. The petitioner is the Finance Director for the Town of Lincoln and states that he has been in that position since January of 2007. According to Article VII, § C7-5 of the Town Charter for the Town of Lincoln, the duties and powers of the Director of Finance include, inter alia, the following: working with the Town Administrator and the Budget Board in compiling the expenditure and revenue estimates for the budget; collecting and receiving all taxes and special assessments as well as license fees, rents, funds, and moneys receivable by the town; maintaining custody of all public funds belonging to or under the control of the town; exercising control over all expenditures by pre-auditing all bills, invoices, payrolls or other claims or charges against the town, and seeing that budget appropriations are not exceeded by disbursements in any department, office or agency of the town; paying out funds by check, such payments being made only after authorization by the Town Council; prescribing and maintaining an accounting system for the town government; requiring reports of receipts and disbursements from each receiving and spending agency of the town; preparing a monthly statement of all receipts and disbursements in sufficient detail to show the financial condition of the town for submission to the Town Administrator and the Town Council; preparing a complete financial statement annually for submission to the Town Administrator, the Town Council and the taxpayers of the town; performing the work of buying for the town all supplies, materials, and equipment required by any department, office or agency of the town and establishing and enforcing specifications with respect to supplies, materials, and equipment. The petitioner represents that the Town of Lincoln regularly places legal, employment, and display ads such as help wanted, zoning, meeting notices, and parks and recreation announcements in a variety of newspapers including The Providence Journal, The Pawtucket Times, The Woonsocket Call and The Valley Breeze; he further states that the Town’s relationships with these newspapers was well-established long prior to his appointment as Finance Director. He states that each individual department within the town decides which paper to utilize for the various necessary purposes required and that each department has its own budget to do so. The petitioner states that his role in this process is to insure that the various departments of the town stay within their budget limits and that that monies for services come from the correct account(s). The petitioner also processes and approves invoices for payment and the corresponding payments to vendors under his signature. The petitioner states that he has no involvement in the choice of what papers to contract with or with the placement of advertisements, but rather, that discretion lies solely with the individual departments of the town. He further represents that all vouchers for payments to vendors are submitted to and approved by the Town Administrator and that payments and invoices are subjected to the scrutiny of the Town Council and require explicit approval by the Council at each monthly meeting. Given the aforementioned facts, the petitioner requests an advisory opinion as to whether there are any inherent conflicts of interest in his carrying out his duties as Finance Director for the Town of Lincoln, given that the Town has a pre-existing customer relationship with The Valley Breeze newspaper, which is owned by Breeze Publications, Inc., of which his brother, Thomas Ward is the majority owner. Under the Code of Ethics, the petitioner 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. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(a). A substantial conflict of interest occurs if he has reason to believe or expect that he or any family member or business associate, or any business by which he is employed, will derive a direct monetary gain or suffer a direct monetary loss by reason of his official activity. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-7(a). He is also 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 family member, business associate, or any business by which he is employed or represents. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(d). In this petitioner’s request, while his position as Finance Director certainly involves his use of discretionary powers and actions, his duties in regard to the Town’s customer relationship with The Valley Breeze newspaper currently do not. As represented by the petitioner, he has no part in the decision-making process as to which newspapers the town contracts with or for what purpose; rather, the town has some long-established customer relationships with a variety of newspapers, the Valley Breeze amongst them, which individual departments within the town have the discretion to continue to utilize or to terminate. The petitioner’s involvement is limited to an auditory review to insure that adequate funds exist within the proper account to pay for the services, coupled thereafter with the processing of payment vouchers, which must be further approved by the Town Administrator and the Town Council. Because these actions are ministerial only and do not involve the petitioner exercising any discretionary authority that could affect the financial interests of his brother as an owner of The Valley Breeze, the petitioner would not have an opportunity to use his position to benefit his brother. See A.O. 2003-69 (opining that a Mail Ballot Clerk for the City of East Providence Board of Canvassers, whose position as Mail Ballot Clerk was ministerial only and did not involve exercising any discretionary authority that could affect the candidacy of her spouse, a potential candidate for a seat on the East Providence City Council, was not in a position to use her position to benefit her spouse, but should exercise diligence in identifying any actions that she might be asked to take that would involve discretionary authority as to the election process and should recuse herself from participation on any matters relating to, or affecting the candidacy of, her spouse and/or other City Council candidates). As such, given the petitioner’s representations, his current job duties as Finance Director do not present any inherent conflicts of interest, notwithstanding the Town’s ongoing customer relationship with The Valley Breeze, of which his brother is a majority owner. The petitioner is cautioned, however, that should his duties as Finance Director enlarge or change to include any discretionary decision-making role or authority in regard to the Town’s customer relationship with the Valley Breeze, or any other newspaper with which the Town contracts for services, the petitioner should either recuse from participation in such action and/or request further guidance from the Commission. Finally, the petitioner is advised that this opinion solely addresses limitations that the Code of Ethics places upon him as a municipal appointed employee and Finance Director for the Town of Lincoln. This opinion does not address whether any other statutes, rulings or policies, or the Town Charter for the Town of Lincoln, place additional limitations or prohibitions on the petitioner in carrying out his duties as Finance Director. Code Citations: 36-14-5(a) 36-14-5(d) 36-14-7(a) Related Statutory Provisions: Article VII, § C7-5 of the Town Charter for the Town of Lincoln Related Advisory Opinions: 2003-69 Keywords: Family Financial Interest