Advisory Opinion No. 98-52

Re: Laurice Shaw

QUESTION PRESENTED

The Petitioner, a former Newport City Councilor, a municipal elected position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether she may speak before the City Council within one year after leaving the Council and, if yes, what, if any, restrictions attach.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, a former Newport City Councilor, a municipal elected position, may speak as a private citizen before the Newport City Council within one year after leaving the Council pursuant to the Public Forum Exception. See Commission Regulation 36-14-7003. The Public Forum Exception provides that persons may express their own viewpoints in a public forum on any matter of general public interest. Therefore, assuming a matter before the Newport City Council is a matter of general public interest and/or would not affect specifically the financial interests of the Petitioner, she may participate in presentations or discussions without restriction.

Conversely, R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(e) provides that a public official may not represent his or her own or others' particular financial interests before the public body to which they belong(ed) prior to the expiration of one year from the official’s severance as a member of that public body. Therefore, the Petitioner may not appear before the Newport City Council on a matter that would impact her own financial interests or those of a relative or business associate, and may not represent an individual or entity before the Council until she has been off the Council for a year. The only exceptions to this general rule are 1) a hardship exemption that may be granted by the Ethics Commission, and 2) a class exemption under Section 7(b) of the Code of Ethics. Those determinations are made on a case-by-case basis given the various circumstances that may be presented by a particular matter. Therefore, the Petitioner should return to the Commission if she seeks to appear before the City Council on a matter that affects her own financial interests during the one year from her official severance from the City Council for a determination as to whether one of these exemptions may apply.

Code Citations:

36-14-5(e)

Commission Regulation 36-14-7003

Related Advisory Opinions:

98-3

98-28

97-85

96-23

95-100

Keywords:

Public forum exception