Advisory Opinion No. 97-136

Re: Anthony Melillo

QUESTION PRESENTED

The Petitioner, an employee of the City of Cranston’s Department of Social Services, a municipal employee position, who also works in a private capacity for a life insurance brokerage firm, requests an advisory opinion as to whether he may submit a bid to provide deferred annuity services to the City’s police and fire departments given that his position with the Department of Social Services in no way impacts upon matters relating to either the police or fire departments and that the bidding for the deferred annuity services will be an open and public process.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, Cranston Department of Social Services employee, a municipal employee position, may bid on the deferred annuity services for the police and fire departments. Section 36-14-5(h) of the Code of Ethics provides that no public official or employee may enter into a contract with a state or municipal agency unless the contract has been awarded through an open and public process, including notice, disclosure and competitive bidding. The Petitioner indicates that all of those conditions will be met here. Otherwise, the contract for which the Petitioner intends to submit bids does not involve or impact upon his own public department and he has no ability to extend any improper influence or control over the police and fire departments. Further, there is no indication that he will have access to any confidential information relating to the deferred annuity services that are being put out to bid. In the absence of any improper intersection between the Petitioner’s public responsibilities and his private employment interests, nothing prohibits him from bidding on and, if successful, contracting for those services.

Code Citations:

36-14-5(h)

Related Advisory Opinions:

97-84

97-72

97-66

97-50

97-48

96-41

95-90

95-41

95-24

94-5

Keywords:

Contracts