Advisory Opinion No. 2008-8

Rhode Island Ethics Commission

Advisory Opinion No. 2008-8

Re: Dawn P. Thurman

QUESTION PRESENTED:

The petitioner, an Assessment Clerk for the Town of Middletown Tax Assessor’s Office, a municipal employee position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether, in her private capacity, she may sell real estate within the Town of Middletown.

RESPONSE:

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner, an Assessment Clerk for the Town of Middletown Tax Assessor’s Office, a municipal employee position, may sell real estate within the Town of Middletown provided that she does so in her private capacity and does not use public resources or confidential information obtained as part of her employment with the Town of Middletown.

The petitioner represents that she is an Assessment Clerk for the Tax Assessor’s Office in the Town of Middletown (“Town”). She advises that the Tax Assessor’s Office is responsible for discovering, listing and valuing all ratable property in the Town. The petitioner states that she is responsible for the valuation of business personal property and motor vehicles for tax purposes. She further advises that she is responsible for the assignment of plat and lot numbers for new subdivisions which are constructed in the Town. Additionally, the petitioner represents that she is responsible for updating property ownership records after such information is recorded in the Town Clerk’s office. Finally, the petitioner represents that all records in the Tax Assessor’s Office are public documents.

The petitioner informs that she is interested in pursuing a second career as a real estate agent and wishes to begin taking real estate classes in the spring of 2008. The petitioner seeks guidance from the Commission as to whether it would be a conflict of interest for her to sell real estate in the Town, given her employment with the Tax Assessor’s Office.

The Code of Ethics provides that the petitioner shall not have any interest, financial or otherwise, direct or indirect, or engage in any employment or transaction which is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of her duties in the public interest. A substantial conflict of interest occurs if the petitioner has reason to believe or expect that she or any family member or business associate, or any business by which he is employed will derive a direct monetary gain or suffer a direct monetary loss by reason of her official activity. R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 36-14-5(a), 7(a). The Code prohibits the petitioner from accepting other employment which will either impair her independence of judgment as to her official duties or employment, or that will require or induce her to disclose confidential information acquired by her in the course of and by reason of her official duties. R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(b). Additionally, the petitioner is prohibited from using her public position or confidential information received through her position to obtain financial gain, other than that provided by law, for herself, a family member, business associate, or any business by which she is employed or represents. R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(d).

In previous advisory opinions, the Commission has given its approval to public employees to accept outside employment provided that: (1) the public employee’s official duties did not directly relate to her private employment, (2) the public employee completed such work outside of her normal working hours, and (3) the public employee did not appear before her own agency. See A.O. 2005-52 (opining that a part-time Town Planner for the Town of Exeter was not prohibited by the Code of Ethics from accepting part-time work as a consultant on two projects for the Exeter Town Council and Planning Board); A.O. 2005-15 (opining that the Principal Civil Engineer for the Department of Environmental Management (“DEM”) was not prohibited by the Code of Ethics from accepting part-time employment with a private firm that submits work to the DEM); A.O. 2004-24 (opining that a member of the City of Cranston Fire Department and Assistant Deputy State Fire Marshal was not prohibited by the Code of Ethics from providing consulting services relating to fire safety and code compliance outside of Cranston).

In addition, the Commission addressed a similar question in 2005. In that advisory opinion, the Commission opined that the Code of Ethics did not prohibit a Housing Officer for the City of Warwick to sell and make real estate referrals within the City of Warwick provided that he did so in his private capacity and did not use public resources or confidential information obtained as part of his employment with the City of Warwick. See A.O. 2005-44.

Code Citations:

36-14-5(a)

36-14-5(b)

36-14-5(c)

36-14-5(d)

36-14-7(a)

Related Advisory Opinions:

Keywords: