Advisory Opinion No. 98-23

Re: Gary P. Grenier

QUESTION PRESENTED

The Petitioner, an active call firefighter with the North Cumberland Fire District (Fire District), a regional employee position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether the Code of Ethics prohibits him from simultaneously serving as an active call firefighter and a member of the Board of Commissioners for the Fire District.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Code of Ethics prohibits the Petitioner from serving both as a member of the Board of Commissioners for the North Cumberland Fire District and as an active call firefighter for the Fire District, a regional employee position. Under the Code of Ethics, the Petitioner may not accept other employment that will either impair his independence of judgment or require him to disclose confidential information. R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(b).

The governing body for the Fire District is an elected Board of Commissioners, who receive an annual stipend of $1,100. The Commissioners hire and oversee the Fire Chief for the District. The Fire Chief, in turn, supervises the Fire Department, including call firefighters. As a member of the Board of Commissioners the Petitioner would be, in effect, both a subordinate of the Fire Chief and the Chief’s boss. In previous opinions, we consistently have advised public officials and employees, including a member of the Board of the North Cumberland Fire District, that such simultaneous service disrupts an organization’s chain of command and creates an inherent conflict of interest, thereby violating the provisions of R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(b). See, e.g., A.O. 96-82 (advising a paid member of the North Cumberland call force who also served on the North Cumberland Fire District Board, that he should not serve in both positions given the Board's supervisory authority over the Fire Department and the Fire Chief); A.O. 95-85 (advising a State Retirement System Field Investor who sought a position on the State Retirement Board to refrain from running for one of vacant Retirement Board seats since, if elected, his employment supervisor, the Executive Director of the State Retirement System, would be answerable or responsible to him); and, A.O. 91-17 (concluding that an East Greenwich Town Recreation Committee member could not accept employment as a Teen Open Gym Supervisor where his employment supervisor would be the Recreation Director who may be answerable or responsible to the Petitioner as a member of the Recreation Committee).

The same rationale applies here. The Petitioner may serve as a member of the Fire District’s Board of Commissioners; or, the Petitioner may continue to hold his position as a call firefighter. He may not, however, serve in both positions at the same time.

Code Citations:

36-14-5(b)

Related Advisory Opinions:

96-82

95-85

91-17

Keywords:

Dual public roles