Advisory Opinion No. 2009-28 Rhode Island Ethics Commission Advisory Opinion No. 2009-28 Re: Edward A. Giroux QUESTION The Petitioner, a member of the West Warwick Town Council, a municipal elected position, requests an advisory opinion regarding whether he may participate and vote on the West Warwick School Committee budget as a whole given that his spouse is a teacher employed by the School Department. RESPONSE It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, a member of the West Warwick Town Council, a municipal elected position, may participate and vote on the West Warwick School Committee budget as a whole, notwithstanding that his spouse is a teacher employed by the School Department. The Petitioner advises that he is a member of the West Warwick Town Council (“Town Council”) and that his wife is a teacher employed by the West Warwick School Department (“School Department”). He informs that during the Town’s budget process, he is required to participate and vote on the final budget presented by the West Warwick School Committee (“School Committee”). The Petitioner states that because of fiscal hardships that the Town is facing, the Town Council has recently had frequent discussions concerning the fiscal management of the school district. The Petitioner, in a subsequent communication with Ethics Commission Staff, represented that the Town Council does not have the power to amend or remove any line item in the budget presented by the School Committee; but rather, the Town Council is only authorized to vote on the budget as a whole. Given these representations, the Petitioner asks whether he may participate and vote on the School Committee budget as a whole given that his spouse is a teacher employed by the School Department. Commission Regulation 36-14-5004(b)(3) specifically addresses the question raised by the Petitioner. It reads, in pertinent part: (A) General Prohibition. No person subject to the Code of Ethics shall participate in discussion or decision-making relative to a budgetary line item that would address or affect the employment, compensation or benefits of any person within his or her family or a household member. (B) Specific Line Items. Notwithstanding the prohibition set forth in subsection 3(A), a person subject to the Code of Ethics may, only in accordance with particular instructions and advice received from the Ethics Commission in a written advisory opinion, participate in discussion or decision-making relative to a budgetary line item that addresses or affects the employment, compensation or benefits of any person within his or her family or a household member as a member of a significant and definable class of persons, and not individually or to any greater extent than any other similarly situated member of the class. (C) Vote on Entire Budget. Notwithstanding the prohibition set forth in subsection 3(A), a person subject to the Code of Ethics may participate in discussion or decision-making relative to approving or rejecting the entire budget as a whole, provided that the person within his or her family or household member is impacted by the entire budget as a member of a significant and definable class of persons, and not individually or to any greater extent than any other similarly situated member of the class. Commission Regulation 36-14-5004(b)(3). Pursuant to this provision, the Petitioner is permitted to participate in the Town Council’s discussion and decision-making relative to approving or rejecting the entire School Department budget as a whole. The basis for allowing such participation is an assumption that that a vote on an overall budget is sufficiently remote from most particular line items so as not to constitute a substantial conflict of interest in violation of the Code. See A.O. 2009-4 (opining that a member of the Scituate Town Council may participate in Town Council and Budget Committee hearings and meetings that relate to approving or rejecting the entire school and/or town budget as a whole, notwithstanding the fact that the Petitioner’s spouse is employed as a teacher in the Scituate school system). See also A.O. 2005-17 (Portsmouth Town Council member may vote on Town Budget notwithstanding that his spouse was employed as a teacher in the Town); A.O. 2002-44 (Warwick City Councilor, whose spouse was employed by the Warwick School Department may participate in and/or vote on the Town budget even if it includes matters related to school budgets and school issues generally, provided that he did not participate in and/or vote on specific matters related to personnel issues affecting his spouse). Although the Petitioner is permitted to participate in the overall vote to approve or reject the School Committee’s budget, the Commission is aware that a general discussion can quickly devolve into a more narrow review of specific items. The Petitioner must be vigilant to identify such instances where a general conversation begins to focus on issues that are likely to financially impact his spouse. In such circumstances, the Petitioner must recuse from further participation pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-6, or, if possible, seek further guidance from the Ethics Commission. Accordingly, the Commission opines that the Petitioner, a member of the West Warwick Town Council, a municipal elected position, may participate and vote on the West Warwick School Committee budget as a whole, in accordance with Commission Regulation 5004(b)(3), notwithstanding that his spouse is a teacher employed by the School Department. Code Citations : 36-14-6 Commission Regulation 36-14-5004 Related Advisory Opinions : 2009-4 2005-17 2002-44 Keywords : Budgets Family Member