Advisory Opinion No. 98-17

Re: Curtis Ponder

QUESTION PRESENTED

The Petitioner, Cranston Zoning Board of Review Alternate Member, a municipal appointed position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether he may sit, participate and vote in matters where the attorney representing one of the parties before the Board is legal counsel to the Petitioner’s private employer.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, Cranston Zoning Board of Review Alternate Member, a municipal appointed position, may sit, participate, and vote in matters where a party's attorney is the same lawyer who provides legal services to his [the Petitioner’s] private employer; assuming, obviously, that the attorney is not representing the Petitioner’s employer before the Board.

The Petitioner represents that the law firm of Taft & McSally serves as legal counsel to his private employer, GMAC Mortgage Corporation. Attorneys from that law firm represent clients before the Zoning Board on a regular basis. Pursuant to the Code of Ethics, the Petitioner and the law firm are not “business associates”. They are not joined together to achieve a common financial objective and the Petitioner has no ownership interest in the firm that employs him. In light of these factors, the connection between the official actions of the Petitioner, as an alternate member of the Board, and a law firm appearing before the Board, that also serves as legal counsel to the Petitioner’s employer, is too remote to preclude the Petitioner’s participation. Therefore, the Code of Ethics does not prohibit the Petitioner from participating and voting on matters where attorneys from Taft & McSally represent an applicant before the Board. However, should the law firm of Taft & McSally, or any other legal counsel, represent the Petitioner’s employer before the Board, the Petitioner must recuse himself from participation in those matters and file a Section 6 notice with the Board and the Ethics Commission.

Code Citations:

36-14-2(8)

36-14-5(a)

36-14-6

36-14-7(a)

36-14-5002

Related Advisory Opinions:

96-73

96-6

93-21

Keywords:

Business associate

Private employment