Advisory Opinion No. 97-50

Re: Normand A. Leveillee

QUESTION PRESENTED

The Petitioner, teacher at the Exeter-West Greenwich Jr/Sr High School, a municipal employee position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether his private company may offer and bid on consulting services for the Exeter-West Greenwich Regional School System.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, a teacher at the Exeter-West Greenwich Jr/Sr High School, a municipal employee position, may offer and bid on consulting services for the Exeter-West Greenwich Regional School System so long as he has not played a role in making recommendations and requests to the building principal for such services or otherwise participated in the decision-making process regarding the services. Under Section 5(h) of the Code of Ethics, public officials or their family members may enter into contracts with state or municipal agencies so long as it is awarded through an open and public process including public notice and subsequent public disclosure of all proposals considered and contracts awarded. However, if the Petitioner has requested particular services or provided input, the Petitioner cannot accept a contract since his actions would constitute participating in the bid specification process and may be placed in a privileged position with respect to other bidders. His accepting a contract under such circumstances would place him in violation of R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(d)

Code Citations:

36-14-5(a)

36-14-5(d)

36-14-5(h)

36-14-7(a)

Related Advisory Opinions:

95-90

95-60

95-24

91-60

Keywords:

contracts

private employment