Advisory Opinion No. 97-83

Re: Janet Keller

QUESTION PRESENTED

The Petitioner, Chief of the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy for the Department of Environmental Management, a state employee position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether the following process will avoid any conflicts of interest given that her spouse's company may bid on projects under the Petitioner's jurisdiction: (1) subordinate program managers continue to develop proposals, etc. for recyling programs; (2) the Petitioner recuses herself from participation if her spouse's company submits a bid for a project; and (3) another Chief will perform oversight on such projects.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the program outlined by the Petitioner, Chief of the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy for the Department of Environmental Management, a state employee position, whereby (1) program managers continue to develop proposals, etc. for recycling programs; (2) and the petitioner recuses herself from participation if her spouse's company submits a bid for a project; and (3) another Chief will perform oversight on such projects satisfies the Code of Ethics, in large part; however, the Petitioner cannot, under these circumstances, participate in bid development. The Petitioner's participation in the bid development process including approval of scopes, etc. would preclude the her spouse or spouse's employer from submitting a bid for those projects. Under the Code of Ethics, R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14- 5(h) requires an open and public bid process. The Commission previously has ruled that officials who participated in the bid development process would place themselves, their family members or their business associates in a privileged position with respect to other bidders and consequently diminish, if not eliminate, the "open and public process" required under the Code. Based on the Code of Ethics, the Petitioner's spouse or spouses's employer can bid on the recycling projects only if the Petitioner has not participated in the bid development process as Chief of the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy. If the Petitioner does not participate in the bid development process, the proposed system outlined by the Petitioner whereby she recuses on all matters where her spouse or spouse's employer is a bidder is consistent with the Code of Ethics.

Code Citations:

36-14-5(a)

36-14-5(d)

36-14-5(h)

36-14-7(a)

Related Advisory Opinions:

95-24

95-60

95-90

95-116

Keywords:

contracts

family: private employment