Advisory Opinion No. 96-108

Re: Richard Allphin

QUESTION PRESENTED

The petitioner, member of the Jamestown Zoning Board, a municipal appointed position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether he may speak at a Zoning Board hearing regarding a variance sought by a fellow corporate officer given that he has filed a recusal in the matter and that he is also affected by the proposed variance.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner, member of the Jamestown Zoning Board, a municipal appointed position, may speak at a Zoning Board hearing as a private citizen regarding a variance sought by a fellow corporate officer given that the petitioner has filed a recusal in the matter. Commission Regulation 36-14-7003, the Public Forum Exception, provides that any person may publicly express his or her own viewpoints in a public forum on any matter of general public interest or an any matter which directly affects said individual, spouse or dependent child. In this matter, the variance may benefit the petitioner in that his boat will be more protected in high winds if the variance is granted. Given the petitioner's recusal and general and specific interest in the variance, as well as the intent of the public forum exception to allow public officials to express their viewpoints in a public forum without gaining unique access to forums owing to their public positions, the petitioner may speak as a private citizen at the hearing on this matter consistent with the Code of Ethics.

Code Citations:

36-14-7003

Related Advisory Opinions:

96-23

95-100

94-52

92-24

Keywords:

public forum exception