Advisory Opinion No. 97-121

Re: Michael D. Cassidy

QUESTION PRESENTED

The Pawtucket City Solicitor requests on behalf of the Petitioner, Pawtucket Planning and Redevelopment Director, a municipal appointed position, an advisory opinion as to whether the former Operating Director of Pawtucket Citizen's Development Corporation, a private non-profit organization, is covered by the Code of Ethics.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the former Operating Director of Pawtucket Citizen's Development Corporation ("PCDC") is not covered by the Code of Ethics. The Petitioner, Pawtucket Planning and Redevelopment Director, a municipal appointed position, requested this opinion given that his office had supplied PCDC with in-kind space and that the former Director of PCDC applied for a grant through the federal government in his private capacity as a developer, requiring, among other things, that the City certify that the former PCDC Director is not in violation of the state or local ethics laws. PCDC is a private non-profit organization and the former PCDC Director is no longer serving in that capacity, but is a developer of a project that applied for the grant. The former PCDC Director may receive federal monies through a grant that first passes to the City of Pawtucket. We conclude that the transfer of the federal money through the City and then to the former PCDC Director does not transform him into a municipal official or employee as those terms are defined in R.I. Gen. Laws §36-14-2. Therefore, he is not covered by the Code of Ethics.

Code Citations:

36-14-1

Related Advisory Opinions:

96-120

Keywords:

Code jurisdiction