Advisory Opinion No. 2007-47 Advisory Opinion No. 2007-47 Re: Anna Cano-Morales QUESTION PRESENTED The petitioner, a member and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Central Falls School District, a state appointed position, requests an advisory opinion regarding whether the Code of Ethics prohibits her participation in contract negotiations between the School District and the Central Falls Teachers’ Union, given that her husband’s brother’s wife is a member of the Teachers’ Union. RESPONSE It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner, a member and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Central Falls School District, may participate in contract negotiations between the School District and the Central Falls Teachers’ Union, notwithstanding the fact that her husband’s brother’s wife is a member of the Teachers’ Union. The petitioner is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Central Falls School District (“School District”). The School District is operated by the State of Rhode Island through a seven (7) member Board of Trustees appointed by the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education (“Board of Regents”). See R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-2-34. The School District’s enabling legislation specifies that the Chair of the Board of Trustees, along with the Superintendent, has the responsibility to negotiate all School District employment contracts, subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education with the concurrence of the Board of Regents. Id. The petitioner relates that the wife of her husband’s brother is a member of the Central Falls Teachers’ Union. She asks whether this fact precludes her, under the Code of Ethics, from fulfilling her statutory duty to negotiate the teachers’ contract. Commission Regulation 36-14-5004, entitled “Nepotism,” specifically prohibits persons subject to the Code of Ethics from participating in contract or collective bargaining negotiations which address or affect the employment, compensation or benefits of “any person within his or her family.” Regulation 5004(b)(4)(A). The phrase “any person within his or her family” is defined in Regulation 5004 as follows: “Any person within his or her family” means, in addition to any other definition, any person who is related to any public official or public employee, whether by blood, marriage or adoption, as any of the following: spouse, father, step-father, father-in-law, mother, step-mother, mother-in-law, son, step-son, son-in-law, daughter, step-daughter, daughter-in-law, brother, step-brother, brother-in-law, sister, step-sister, sister-in-law, grandfather, step-grandfather, grandfather-in-law, grandmother, step-grandmother, grandmother-in-law, grandson, step-grandson, grandson-in-law, granddaughter, step-granddaughter, granddaughter-in-law, uncle, step-uncle, uncle-in-law, aunt, step-aunt, aunt-in-law, niece, step-niece, niece-in-law, nephew, step-nephew, nephew-in-law, first cousin, step-first cousin and first-cousin-in-law. Regulation 5004(a)(1). Included among the enumerated familial relations listed are “sister” and “sister-in-law.” It is the opinion of the Ethics Commission that the term “sister” means a female person having the same mother or father as another. The term “sister-in-law” means either the sister of one’s spouse, or the female spouse of one’s own sibling. The term “sister-in-law,” as used in Regulation 5004(a)(1), was not meant to include, and does not include, the female spouse of one’s spouse’s sibling. We consider it both necessary and reasonable to regulate a public official’s ability to take official action that financially impacts either the spouse of her natural or adopted relative, or that impacts her own spouse’s natural or adopted relative; these persons are a public official’s “in-laws” as that term is used in Regulation 5004. The term does not include a third family that may have married into one’s spouse’s family. Based on the above, the wife of the petitioner’s husband’s brother is not the petitioner’s “sister-in-law” as that term is used in Regulation 5004. Accordingly, the petitioner is not prohibited by the Code of Ethics from participating in the Central Falls School District’s contract negotiations with the Central Falls Teachers’ Union. Code Citations : Regulation 5004 Related Advisory Opinions : 2007-36 2007-32 2007-31 Keywords : Nepotism Family: Public employment