Advisory Opinion No. 96-20

Re: Jo Ann R. Allen

QUESTION PRESENTED

An appointed member of the City of Pawtucket Zoning Board of Review, employed in the private sector as a real estate broker, requests an advisory opinion as to whether she may consider and vote on matters that come before the Board when the person(s) presenting and/or having an interest in such matters are fellow realtors with whom she has done business in the past and with whom she is likely to do business in the future.

RESPONSE

The Rhode Island Code of Ethics does not prohibit a member of the City of Pawtucket Zoning Board of Review from considering and voting on matters that come before the Board when the person(s) presenting and/or having an interest in such matters are fellow realtors with whom she has done business in the future. So long as the petitioner and the realtor with an interest before the board engage only in occasional business transactions as independent parties, and not as partners or business associates, there is no inherent conflict of interest.

The prohibitions set out in the Code of Ethics prohibit public officials from taking actions when, among other things, they or a business associate have a financial interest in the matter at issue (see R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(a) and (d)) or a business associate appears before the public body on which the official serves (see R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(f)). Here, the Board member represents that she does not have an interest in the matters at issue. Rather, one of the interested parties is a fellow realtor with whom she previously has done business and with whom she is likely to do business in the future. The nature of that interaction, absent some sort of official affiliation between the Board member and another realtor, does not establish the realtors as "business associates." Rather, they are the competitors in the real estate business who, because of the nature of the business, occasionally find themselves participating, as independent parties, in the same transactions.

You are further advised, however, that in the event a particular issue or matter comes before the Board which may directly impact your personal financial interests, either because of the nature of the transaction or because of the frequency and/or regularity with which you do business with a particular fellow realtor, you should either exercise the notice and recusal provisions of R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-6 and/or seek further guidance from the Commission.

Code Citation:

36-14-5(a)

36-14-5(d)

36-14-5(f)

36-14-6

Keyword:

business associate