Advisory Opinion No. 95-103

Re: Edna M. Snow

A. QUESTION PRESENTED

Whether Edna Snow may serve simultaneously on the State Retirement Board and the East Providence School Committee.

B. SUMMARY

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that Ms. Snow will not violate the Code by serving simultaneously as a State Retirement Board Member and an East Providence School Committee Member.

C. DISCUSSION

1. Facts

The petitioner serves on the State Retirement Board, the agency responsible for overseeing the delivery of services and information to members of the Employees Retirement System (a contributory retirement system governed by Chapters 16, 36, and 45 of the Rhode Island General Laws), as the elected representative of retired members.(1) As a member of the Retirement Board, the petitioner is required, among other things, to consider and vote on applications for disability benefits and appeals by members of the Employees Retirement System. The petitioner, whose present term expires in January 1996, plans to seek reelection to this position.

In December 1994, the petitioner was elected to the East Providence School Committee for a four year term of office. As a member of the School Committee, the petitioner participates in decisions involving the care, control and management of all public schools in East Providence.

2. Analysis

At issue in this advisory opinion request is whether the petitioner, a member of the Retirement Board, may simultaneously serve as a member of a School Committee. Under the Code of Ethics, the petitioner is prohibited from having any interest or engaging in any professional activity which is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of her duties in the public interest. See R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 36-14-5(a), 36-14-7(a).(2) Also, pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(b), the petitioner may not accept other employment which will either impair her independence of judgment as to her official duties or require her, or induce her, to disclose confidential information acquired in the course of her official duties.

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner will not violate the Code if she simultaneously serves on the Retirement Board and the East Providence School Committee. In reaching this conclusion, we rely on the petitioner's representations that the activities of the Retirement Board do not customarily conflict with the activities of the School Committee. We were also guided by past advisory opinions which have permitted persons subject to the Code to simultaneously serve in two public positions where there is no inherent conflict between the interested bodies. See e.g., A.O. 95-34 (permitting the Newport School Department's Business Manager to simultaneously seek or obtain a position as a member of the Ward Council); A.O. 94-48 (allowing a Commissioner of the Westerly Housing Authority to simultaneously seek a position or serve as a member of the Westerly School Committee); A.O. 90-50 (opining that no violation of the Code would arise if a member of the Bristol School Committee simultaneously served on the Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education and the Bristol/Warren Regional District Planning Board).

However, we caution and advise Ms. Snow that, in the event that any matter comes before either body which effects or concerns the other body, she should a) notify the appropriate entities, in writing, of the nature of her interest in the matter at issue, and b) recuse herself from any participation or voting in connection with such matter. Ms. Snow is also reminded that, in the event that she must exercise notice and recusal, a written record of such recusal should be filed with the Ethics Commission as required by R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-6.

Footnotes

(1) The petitioner is a retired East Providence teacher.

(2) Substantial conflict is defined as a "direct monetary gain" or a "direct monetary loss" that accrues by virtue of the public official's activity, to that individual, a family member, a business associate, an employer, or any business which the public official represents. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-7(a).

Keywords

Dual Public Roles