Advisory Opinion No. 2008-29

Rhode Island Ethics Commission

Advisory Opinion No. 2008-29

Re: Theodore J. Przybyla

QUESTION PRESENTED

The petitioner, the Treasurer for the Town of Scituate (“Treasurer”), a municipal elected position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether he is prohibited by the Code of Ethics from accepting an offer from the Town Council that will expand his position as Treasurer from that of a part-time to a full-time position, with an associated increase in salary commensurate with the expansion of duties.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Ethics Commission that the petitioner, the Treasurer for the Town of Scituate (“Treasurer”), a municipal elected position, is not prohibited from accepting an offer from the Town Council that will expand his position as Treasurer from that of a part-time to a full-time position, with an associated increase in salary commensurate with the expansion of his duties.

The petitioner is the Town Treasurer for the Town of Scituate.  He states that the Town Treasurer is an elected position responsible for the supervision of the Finance Department, Tax Assessor, Tax Collector and associated staff.  He states that the position is currently a part-time position which reports to the Town Council and has an annual salary of $15,000 with rights to employee benefits pursuant to the Town of Scituate Employee Manual.  He represents that the Town presently also has a Deputy Treasurer who is a full-time employee who administers the day-to-day operations of the office.  He further represents that the current Deputy Treasurer has advised the Council of her intention to retire effective July 1, 2008.

The petitioner represents that since the Deputy Treasurer gave notice of her intention to retire, the Town Council has approached the petitioner with a proposal intended to serve as a cost-saving measure which would have him assume full-time responsibility for the operations of the office, with an associated increase in salary commensurate with the added responsibility for the day-to-day operations.  He states that the Town Council has represented to him that it intends to make the added responsibilities a part of the Town Treasurer’s job description and coterminous with the term of office.  Finally, the petitioner states that he in no way participated in the specification as to the proposed expansion of duties or the proposed increase in remuneration, nor did he approach the Town Council in any way to suggest that it take such action, but, rather, that the proposal was formulated entirely by the Town Council in its own proceedings, which he did not participate in at all.

The petitioner notes in his request that pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 45-8-6 “[t]own treasurers may, by and with the approval of the town council, appoint a deputy whenever the appointment is necessary;” the petitioner clarifies, however, that the Town Council’s proposal would not change his classification to that of Deputy Treasurer, nor would he be appointing himself in any way. Given this set of factual circumstances, the petitioner requests an advisory opinion as to whether he is prohibited by the Code of Ethics from accepting the Town Council’s proposal to expand his duties as Treasurer to a full-time position and correspondingly increase his compensation for his remaining term of office.

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 and employment in the public interest.  See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(a).  The petitioner 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 his official activity, to himself, a family member, a business associate, an employer, or any business which he represents.  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.  See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(d). 

It is the opinion of the Ethics Commission that nothing in the Code of Ethics prohibits the petitioner, the Town Treasurer of the Town of Scituate, from accepting the Town Council’s proposal to expand the scope of his duties to that of a full-time position and to increase his salary accordingly. See A.O. 99-115 (advising members of the Glocester Housing Authority that they may not receive compensation for their efforts if the members of the Housing Authority themselves take action to provide for or set their own compensation, but allowing another body, i.e. Town Council, to set compensation for the Authority members independent of any action by the Housing Authority members). 

Additionally, the Commission notes that Regulation 36-14-5014, which provides in pertinent part that “No municipal elected official  .  .  .  whether elected or appointed, while holding office and for a period of one (1) year after leaving municipal office, shall seek or accept employment with any municipal agency in the municipality in which the official serves, other than employment which was held at the time of the official’s election or appointment to office or at the time of enactment of this regulation, except as provided herein,” is inapplicable to the facts as represented by this petitioner as he is not “seeking or accepting employment” in any new position, but rather, will be serving more hours in his current position as Town Treasurer and performing more of the day-to-day tasks of the office, over which he has always had supervisory responsibility as Treasurer. 

Finally, the petitioner is advised that this opinion solely addresses the application of the Code of Ethics.  We note that this opinion does not address whether any state statute or regulation or municipal ordinances, policies, or regulations prohibit such activity.  Such matters are outside the jurisdiction of the Ethics Commission and, as a result, cannot be addressed in this advisory opinion.

Code Citations :

36-14-5(a)

36-14-5(d)

36-14-7(a)

Related Advisory Opinions :

A.O. 99-115

Regulation 36-14-5014

Keywords :

Compensation