Advisory Opinion No. 2012-24 Advisory Opinion No. 2012-24 Re: Rose Marie Cipriano QUESTION PRESENTED The Petitioner, a member of the Smithfield Financial Review Commission, a municipal appointed position, requests an advisory opinion regarding whether the Code of Ethics prohibits her from being a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the State of Rhode Island and the Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island. RESPONSE It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Code of Ethics does not prohibit the Petitioner, a member of the Smithfield Financial Review Commission, a municipal appointed position, from being a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the State of Rhode Island and the Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island. The Petitioner is a member of the Smithfield Financial Review Commission (“FRC”), having been appointed by the Smithfield Town Council in January of 2011. She states that the FRC is advisory in nature to the Town Council and School Department.[1] She informs that the FRC’s duties are as follows: verify revenue estimates; monitor expenditures; review monthly reports that detail the Town’s current financial condition; receive and review the annual audit report and monitor the Town’s compliance with recommendations; review operations of the Town and the School Department and make recommendations to improve productivity and/or reduce costs; issue semiannual reports to the Town Council and School Committee as to the financial health of the Town; and, finally, review and inquire into departmental budget requests and make recommendations to the Town Manager and the Town Council. Smithfield Code of Ordinances ch. 48 § 5. In her private capacity, the Petitioner represents that she retired from a career in public education in 1998. She states that she worked in the Woonsocket School District for twenty (20) years, first as a teacher and later as an assistant principal. She also worked as a principal in the Cumberland School District for ten (10) years. She informs that she is collecting a pension from the Employees Retirement System of Rhode Island (“ERSRI”).[2] She represents that she is currently the president of the Rhode Island Association of Retired Principals (“RIARP”), an association of retired public school administrators who are current beneficiaries of ERSRI. She represents that RIARP is one of seven (7) plaintiff-associations named in a lawsuit recently filed against the State of Rhode Island and ERSRI. She informs that RIARP and the other plaintiffs are seeking relief from the Rhode Island Retirement Security Act of 2011 (“RIRSA”) as it relates to suspending and reducing the vested retirement benefits of already-retired public employees. The Rhode Island Public Employees Retirees Coalition (“RIPERC”) is another of the seven (7) plaintiff-associations in this lawsuit. The Petitioner informs that RIARP is a member of RIPERC and, thus, she is also a member of RIPERC’s executive board by virtue of her position as president of RIARP. The Petitioner represents that she sought this advisory opinion after being approached by certain Smithfield Town officials regarding whether it was a conflict of interest for her to simultaneously serve on the FRC and also be a party to the lawsuit against the State. The Petitioner states that neither the Town of Smithfield nor the FRC are parties to the lawsuit. Furthermore, she informs that there is no connection between her official duties as a member of the FRC and this lawsuit. Under the Code of Ethics, a public official may not participate in any matter in which she has an interest, financial or otherwise, that is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of her duties or employment in the public interest. R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(a). A substantial conflict of interest exists if an official has reason to believe or expect that she, any person within her family, a business associate or an employer will derive a direct monetary gain or suffer a direct monetary loss by reason of her official activity. Section 36-14-7(a). Additionally, a public official may not use her office for pecuniary gain, other than as provided by law, for herself, a family member, employer, business associate or a business that she represents. Section 36-14-5(d). In the present matter, there is nothing to indicate that RIARP and RIPERC’s litigation against the State would be subject to consideration or review by the FRC, given that neither the Town of Smithfield nor the FRC is a party to the lawsuit. Accordingly, absent any other relevant fact that would implicate provisions of the Code of Ethics, it is not reasonably foreseeable that the Petitioner’s official activity as a member of the FRC would have any impact upon RIARP and RIPERC’s lawsuit against the State and ERSRI. Therefore, it is the opinion of the Ethics Commission that the Code of Ethics does not prohibit the Petitioner, a member of the FRC, from being a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the State and ERSRI. Code Citations: § 36-14-5(a) § 36-14-5(d) § 36-14-7(a) Keywords: Business Associates Litigation [1] For purposes of this advisory opinion, the Commission and the Petitioner assume that the FRC is a municipal entity subject to the Code of Ethics. [2] All public school teachers in Rhode Island are members of ERSRI. See §§ 16-16-1 to -43.