Advisory Opinion No. 98-155

Re: Anne Cunningham

QUESTION PRESENTED

The Petitioner, Director of Community Services for the Providence Housing Authority, a municipal employee position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether her Department may solicit vendors of the Providence Housing Authority, a municipal agency, for donations on behalf of the Providence Housing Community Corporation, a non-profit organization within the Providence Housing Authority.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Community Services Department of the Providence Housing Authority may solicit donations on behalf of the Providence Housing Community Corporation. This opinion is based on the Petitioner's representations that the solicitation is for the benefit of the agency and its third party recipients/clients and as such constitutes a public purpose rather than a personal interest, either for herself or, for example, her favorite charity. Also, the solicitation of Providence Housing Authority vendors under these circumstances is not prohibited by the Code of Ethics given that the vendors go through public bidding/contracting requirements and should not have any reason to believe that whether or not they choose to donate will impact the possibility of their receiving future contracts from the Providence Housing Authority.

At issue in this advisory opinion is a solicitation of vendors of a public agency on behalf of the agency and its associated non-profit corporation. The Code of Ethics provides that a public official may not solicit or accept a gift or [contribution] if there is understanding that the official's judgment would be influenced thereby. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(g). Commission Regulation 5009 states that a person covered by the Code of Ethics may not solicit gifts or items of value from interested persons. Under Commission Regulation 5011, a person covered by the Code of Ethics may not engage in financial transactions, including charitable contributions, with subordinates over which he/she exercises supervisory authority. Finally, a public official also is prohibited from using his or her public office to obtain financial or personal gain, other than that provided by law. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(d).

The Petitioner represents that the Providence Housing Community Corporation is a non-profit organization within the Providence Housing Authority. It was created pursuant to HUD guidelines for the receipt of grants. The Petitioner represents that the Community Services Department lives almost entirely on third party funding such as grants and serves an elderly/disabled population of 1,200 and a family population of over 3,500 low-income residents. The Community Services Department proposes to send a letter of solicitation to all Providence Housing Authority vendors requesting donations. The letter may be under the auspices of the Providence Housing Authority.

Here, the solicitation is of a public nature that will not benefit the Petitioner or requestor personally. The donations will benefit the agency and third parties that receive services from the municipal agency and/or non-profit corporation that is integral to the agency's operation. Additionally, the Petitioner represents that vendors of the Providence Housing Authority adhere to public bidding and contracting requirements. Therefore, even if the solicitation letter is on Providence Housing Authority stationery, the vendors would not have any reasonable basis to believe that they must contribute to the Providence Housing Community Corporation in order to receive favorable consideration when contracts are awarded since there are set objective criteria for accepting a bid, i.e., lowest bidder. In situations where the Commission did not find such to be present, the Ethics Commission has required procedures to be followed that ensure that no improper or unfair advantage flows to individuals or entities who choose to make donations; e.g., broad-based solicitations that do not focus on for instance, only those individuals or entities doing business with the agency. See A.O. 95-42. Here, however, based on the Petitioner's representation that the Providence Housing Authority vendors are subject to bidding requirements when doing business with the Housing Authority, and that the donations are for public rather than private purposes, the Code of Ethics does not prohibit the solicitation proposed by the Petitioner.

Code Citations:

36-14-5(d)

36-14-5(g)

36-14-5009

36-14-5011

Related Advisory Opinions:

98-63

97-116

96-97

96-28

95-73

95-42

94-9

92-37

Keywords:

Charitable events

Gifts

Solicitation

Transactions with subordinates

Agency benefit

Vendors