Advisory Opinion No. 98-126

Re: Mark E. Liberati, Esq.

QUESTION PRESENTED

The Petitioner, a former member of the Jamestown Town Council, a municipal elected official, and a member of the Jamestown Water Study Committee, a municipal appointed position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether he may represent a client before the Jamestown Town Council sitting as the Board of Water and Sewer Commissions on an application to secure access to the public water supply if more than one year has expired since he severed his position with the Town Council and the Water Study Committee has no involvement in the application process.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Code of Ethics does not prohibit the Petitioner, a former member of the Jamestown Town Council, a municipal elected official, and a member of the Jamestown Water Study Committee, a municipal appointed official, from representing a client before the Jamestown Town Council sitting as the Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners regarding an application to secure access to the public sector supply. This opinion is based on the Petitioner's representation that more than one year has expired since he severed his position with the Jamestown Town Council in May, 1997. Accordingly, the prohibitions set forth in R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(e)(4) are not implicated. Also, since the Petitioner represents that the Jamestown Water Study Committee, a committee responsible for discovering additional ground water to augment the public water supply, will have no involvement in the application process involving his client, the provisions of R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(a), which prohibits a public official from acting where he has an interest in substantial conflict, are not implicated.

Code Citations:

36-14-5(a)

36-14-5(e)

Related Advisory Opinions:

98-96

98-13

98-11

98-5

97-139

97-97

97-1

Keywords:

Post employment

Private employment

Revolving door