Advisory Opinion No. 2002-36

Re: Neal J. McNamara, Esq.

QUESTION PRESENTED

The petitioner, a candidate for the position of East Greenwich Town Moderator, a municipal elected position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether serving as Town Moderator would prevent him from representing private clients before the East Greenwich Planning Board, Zoning Board and Town Council.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that Code of Ethics would not prohibit the petitioner, a candidate for the position of East Greenwich Town Moderator, a municipal elected position, from representing private clients before the East Greenwich Planning Board, Zoning Board and the Town Council if elected to the position of Town Moderator.

The petitioner represents that he is a practicing attorney in Rhode Island and in that capacity he represents clients before the East Greenwich Planning Board, Zoning Board and Town Council. He states that he has recently been requested to run for the elected position of Town Moderator in East Greenwich. He informs that the sole function of the Town Moderator is to run the annual financial town meeting. This position does not include a salary.

In Advisory Opinion 95-19, the Commission previously concluded that the Code of Ethics did not prohibit the Richmond Town Moderator from representing private clients before the Richmond Zoning Board, Town Council, Planning Board, and all other municipal departments. There, the moderator had no authority over the preparation of the town’s budget or in the operation of any town department, board, commission or council. The main role of the town moderator was to facilitate the annual town meeting. In the instant matter, the East Greenwich Town Moderator’s responsibilities are solely to preside and maintain decorum at the annual Town Meeting. The position does not include any discretionary authority as to the content of the meeting agenda.

Commission Regulation 36-14-5008 prohibits public officials from acting as agents or attorneys before those agencies and boards over which they exercise either fiscal or jurisdictional control. Here, the East Greenwich Town Moderator does not exercise fiscal or jurisdictional control over any agency, board or other entity of municipal government. Therefore, the Commission concludes that the petitioner may represent private clients before the East Greenwich Planning Board, Zoning Board and the Town Council in the event that he is elected to the position of Town Moderator in that municipality.

Code Citations:

36-14-5008

Related Advisory Opinions:

95-19

Keywords:

Acting as Agent