Advisory Opinion No. 2007-56

Advisory Opinion No. 2007-56

Re:  Louis P. Sposato

QUESTION PRESENTED:

The petitioner, a member of the Westerly School Committee, a municipal elected position, requests an advisory opinion regarding whether he may, in his private employment with a global consulting firm, work on a team that develops and presents a proposal to the Rhode Island Department of Education for the formation of a public/private partnership to improve high school education results in Rhode Island.

RESPONSE:

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner, a member of the Westerly School Committee, a municipal elected position, is not restrained by the Code of Ethics from working, in his private employment with a global consulting firm, on a team that develops and presents a proposal to the Rhode Island Department of Education for the formation of a public/private partnership to improve high school education results in Rhode Island.

The petitioner is a member of the Westerly School Committee.  He states that he is employed by Booz Allen Hamilton ("Booz Allen"), a global strategy and technology consulting firm with considerable expertise in the area of K-12 education.  The petitioner represents that Booz Allen is considering approaching the Rhode Island Department of Education ("RIDE") with a proposal to form a public/private sector partnership with the goal of improving high school education results in Rhode Island.  The petitioner wishes to serve as a member of the Booz Allen team that would develop and present the proposal to RIDE.  He represents that if the proposal were to be accepted, any work contracted for would be done for RIDE and not for any particular school district.  He further states that he does not foresee any type of involvement whatsoever with the Westerly School District concerning the proposal.  Given these representations, the petitioner asks whether the Rhode Island Code of Ethics prohibits such private work.

The Code of Ethics prohibits a public official from, among other things, accepting other employment "which will either impair his or her independence of judgment as to his or her official duties or employment, or require him or her, or induce him or her, to disclose confidential information acquired by him or her in the course of and by reason of his or her official duties."  R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(b).  The Code also prohibits a public official from using his or her public office to obtain financial gain for him or herself or for any business by which the person is employed.  See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(d).  Additionally, a public official is prohibited from representing him or herself or others before an agency of which he or she is a member.  See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(e).

Under the instant facts as represented, there does not appear to be any overlap between the petitioner's official duties as a member of the Westerly School Committee and his proposed private employment with Booz Allen.  The petitioner does not contemplate any appearances before the Westerly School Committee by himself or any Booz Allen representative, and in fact, represents that the School Committee will have no involvement whatsoever.  Provided that the petitioner uses no Westerly School Department resources or confidential information in furtherance of his private employment, it is the opinion of the Ethics Commission that the Code of Ethics does not prohibit his participation as a member of the Booz Allen team in developing and presenting its proposal to RIDE.

Code Citations:

36-14-5 (b)

36-14-5 (d)

36-14-5 (e)

Keywords:

Private Employment