Advisory Opinion No. 98-85

Re: John A. Coletti, Esq.

QUESTION PRESENTED

The Petitioner, an attorney in private practice who represents the Cranston Housing Authority as general counsel and the Narragansett Bay Commission as counsel for tax sales, requests an advisory opinion as to whether he is required to file an annual financial disclosure statement.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, an attorney in private practice who represents the Cranston Housing Authority as general counsel and the Narragansett Bay Commission as counsel for tax sales, is not required to file an annual financial disclosure statement.

The Code of Ethics requires all state and municipal elected and appointed officials to file annual financial statements with the Ethics Commission. R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-16(a). The Code defines a state or municipal appointed official as any officer or member of a state or municipal agency who is a) appointed for a term of office specified the constitution or by statute, ordinance or charter, or b) appointed by or through the governing body or highest official of state or municipal government. R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-2(2). The Petitioner advises that both the Cranston Housing Authority and the Narragansett Bay Commission hired him as legal counsel through open and competitive bidding processes and that he was neither elected nor appointed to said positions. He serves the agencies as an independent contractor. His contract positions are not specified in the constitution or by statute, ordinance or charter and, subsequent to his selections through the bidding processes, he did not receive appointment from any individual or body other than the Housing Authority and the Commission. Therefore, the Petitioner is not a municipal elected or appointed official within the meaning of R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-4(a) and (b) and he is not required to file a financial disclosure statement. See R.I. Gen Laws § 36-14-16.

Code Citations:

36-14-2

36-14-4

36-14-16

Related Advisory Opinions:

98-62

98-49

97-141

97-134

96-39

Keywords:

Financial disclosure