Advisory Opinion No. 97-137

Re: William L. Bernstein

QUESTION PRESENTED

The Petitioner, Glocester Zoning Board of Review member, a municipal appointed position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether an independent attorney with whom he shares office space may appear before the Zoning Board of Review given that he will recuse from participation in the matters involving that attorney.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that an independent attorney that shares office space and expenses with the Petitioner, Glocester Zoning Board of Review member, a municipal appointed position, may appear before the Zoning Board of Review, particularly under the conditions outlined by the Petitioner. The Code of Ethics prohibits a public official from participating in matters in which he/she has a substantial conflict of interest and in those matters where a business associate appears before the body of which he or she is a member. R. I. Gen. Laws §§ 36-14-5(a) and 5(f). Given that the Petitioner will recuse from participating in matters where another attorney from his office appears before him, neither of these provisions is implicated. Also, because the Petitioner and the other attorney have independent law practices with, for instance, no fee sharing arrangement, the bright line prohibitions of R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(e) are not triggered. When recusing in such matters, the Petitioner must file a recusal form with the Glocester Zoning Board of Review and with the Ethics Commission in accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-6. The petitioner is also cautioned that the Code of Ethics prohibits recusals on a frequent and regular basis (see Commission Regulation 5003).

Code Citations:

36-14-5(a)

36-14-5(e)

36-14-5(f)

Related Advisory Opinions:

96-76

93-45

93-18

Keywords:

Business Associate