Advisory Opinion No. 96-111

Re: JoAnn McIntyre

QUESTION PRESENTED

The petitioner, Pawtucket Water Supply Board employee, a municipal employee position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether she may speak as a private citizen at a Board meeting given her employment with the Board.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner, Pawtucket Water Supply Board employee, a municipal employee position, may speak at a Board meeting as a private citizen. Given the petitioner's employment as Clerk, her tasks are most likely limited to ministerial activities (rather than decisions on substantive issues) and as such her activities at the Pawtucket Water Supply Board would not implicate a conflict of interest under the Code of Ethics. However, even if the petitioner's activities can be characterized as non-ministerial, the public forum exception under Commission Regulation 36-14-7003, allows the petitioner to publicly express her own viewpoints in a public forum on any matter of general public interest or on any matter which directly affects herself, her spouse or dependent child. However, we caution the petitioner that she may not use any confidential information received through her public employment for financial gain. R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(d). This does not limit the petitioner's ability to obtain public records as a private citizen.

Code Citations:

36-14-5(a)

36-14-5(d)

36-14-7003

Related Advisory Opinions:

96-102

96-78

96-48

96-23

95-100

94-52

92-24

Keywords:

public forum exception