Advisory Opinion No. 2010-46 Rhode Island Ethics Commission Advisory Opinion No. 2010-46 Re: Robert Petit QUESTION PRESENTED The Petitioner, a member of the Chariho Regional School Committee, a municipal elected position, requests an advisory opinion regarding whether he is prohibited from participating in the School Committee's discussion and voting relative to implementation of a performance-based compensation plan to replace longevity payments for school and district administrators, given that his first cousin is an administrator in the district. RESPONSE It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, a member of the Chariho School Committee, a municipal elected position, is prohibited from participating in the School Committee's discussion and voting relative to implementation of a performance-based compensation plan to replace longevity payments for school and district administrators, given that his first cousin is an administrator in the district. The Petitioner is a member of the Chariho Regional School Committee ("School Committee"). He states that the School Committee is considering implementing a performance-based compensation plan for the school district's twenty-two (22) administrators. Under the proposed structure, administrators would no longer receive longevity pay, but they would instead be eligible to receive performance-based awards upon the achievement of certain goals which would be established by the Superintendant. The Petitioner states that his first cousin is one of the school district's administrators who would be impacted by the proposed policy. Commission Regulation 36-14-5004, entitled "Nepotism," sets forth numerous rules to regulate the ability of a public official to make decisions that will financially impact members of his or her family. The regulation enumerates a list of relations that are included within the definition of "family," and this listing expressly includes "first cousin." See Regulation 36-14-5004(a)(2). The nepotism regulation generally prohibits a person subject to the Code of Ethics, such as the Petitioner, from participating in any matter as part of his public duties if he has any reason to believe or expect that a member of his family is a party to or participant in such matter, or will derive a director monetary gain or suffer a direct monetary loss, or obtain an employment advantage. See Regulation 36-14-5004(b)(1). More specifically, a public official is also prohibited from participating in the supervision, evaluation, appointment, classification, promotion, transfer or discipline of any family members. See Regulation 36-14-5004(b)(2)(A). Finally, this regulation prohibits a public official from participating in negotiations relative to an employee contract which addresses or affects the employment, compensation or benefits of a family member, although he may participate in a decision to accept or reject an entire employee contract as a whole, provided that the family member is impacted by the contract as a member of a significant and definable class of persons. See Regulation 36-14-5004(b)(4). Here, the School Committee is deciding whether and how to implement performance-based compensation for school administrators, a change that will eliminate the guarantee of longevity payments in favor of an award of money that is contingent upon satisfaction of certain conditions. Participation in a decision whether to implement such a change in a family member's terms of employment triggers the above provisions of the Code of Ethics. Furthermore, this change would not impact all school district employees, but only the relatively small subclass of twenty-two (22) administrators. For these reasons, it is the opinion of the Ethics Commission that the Petitioner is required to recuse from participating in the School Committee's discussions and voting relative to implementation of a performance-based compensation plan to replace longevity payments for school and district administrators. A notice of recusal must be filed with the Ethics Commission in accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-6. Code Citations: Commission Regulation 5004 R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-6 Keywords: Family: Public Employment Nepotism