Advisory Opinion No. 98-77

Re: Kathleen Leddy

QUESTION PRESENTED

The Petitioner, a Principal Environmental Planner in the Statewide Planning Program within the Department of Administration, a state employee position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether she is required to file a financial disclosure statement given that she attends meetings of the Aquafund Advisory Council when the Director of the Statewide Planning Program's does not or is unable to attend.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, a Principal Environmental Planner in the Statewide Planning Program within the Department of Administration, a state employee position, is not required to file a financial disclosure statement since she is a designee of the Director of Statewide Planning to the Aquafund Advisory Council. The Director of the Statewide Planning Program or designee is an ex-officio member of the AquaFund Advisory Council by virtue of statute. According to the Petitioner, the Director has not named anyone as her designee, but has two alternates who attend in her absence. The Petitioner is one of those people.

The Commission previously opined that a designee of the Attorney General, an ex officio member of the Medical Examiners Commission, was not required to file a financial disclosure statement. The Commission concluded that, notwithstanding the fact that a designee may carry out the same duties and responsibilities as the ex officio member, under the existing financial disclosure requirements a designee is not an elected or appointed official within the meaning of R.I. Gen Laws § 36-14-4(a) and (b). See A.O. 96-36 Here, although the Petitioner is not officially a designee of the Director, in practical terms she is a designee as she is attending meetings in the place of the Director. Additionally, the Petitioner cannot be considered an alternate since this statute does not provide for them. Therefore, the Petitioner is a designee and not required to file a financial disclosure statement.

Code Citations:

36-14-4(b)

36-14-16

Related Advisory Opinions:

96-36

Keywords:

Financial disclosure