HomeMy WebLinkAbout84-570 WrigleyMr. Thomas R. Wrigley
Regional Vice- President
508 Denise Drive
Philadelphia, PA 19116
Dear Mr. Wrigley:
STATE ETHICS COMMISSION
308 FINANCE BUILDING
HARRISBURG, PA 17120
TELEPHONE: (717) 783 -1610
May 25, 1984
ADVICE OF COUNSEL
RE: Representation; Restrictions; Section 3(e)
84 -570
This responds to your letter of February 9, 1984, in which you requested
advice from the State Ethics Commission.
Issue: You ask what restrictions apply to you as a former public employee
with regard to future contacts with various City of Philadelphia agencies.
Facts: You are currently employed by Datacom Systems Corporation as Regional
Vice - President and have been serving as such since January 9, 1984. Prior to
January 9, 1984, you held various public employments: From August 1, 1983
through January 1, 1984, you were employed by the City of Philadelphia as
Chief of Staff for former Mayor William J. Green; from February through July,
1983, you served as an aide to U.S. Representative Thomas M. Foglietta; and
from November, 1980 through January, 1983, you were employed by the Office of
the Mayor of Philadelphia as liaison between and Mayor Green and the state
legislature.
While you were employed by Congressman Fc :lietta, your current employer,
Datacom, approached you about possible employment as Regional Vice - President.
During the time that you discussed your possible employment with Datacom,
Mayor Green enquired as to your availability to serve as his Chief of Staff
for the remainder of his term. At that time, Datacom was already involved in
a contract with the Philadelphia Parking Authority, hereinafter PPA, which
contract was negotiated, signed and implemented eight months prior to your
tenure as Chief of Staff. Being aware of the Datacom contract and your
possible future employment with Datacom, you state that you conditioned your
acceptance of Mayor Green's offer to become Chief of Staff upon complete
insulation from any contact with PPA, including, but not limited to, the
Datacom contract.
Mr. Thomas R. Wrigley
May 25, 1984
Page 2
Under the Datacom contract, Datacom provides technical services required
for the operation of the PPA's onstreet parking program. Specifically,
Datacom provides data processing support for the operation of the Bureau of On
Street Parking, including the processing of parking violation notices or
citations for illegal parking and the collection of fines and costs arising
out of issuance of such violation notices or citations. As Regional
Vice - President for Datacom, your duties include the management of the regional
office and the administration of the current contract with the PPA. You also
believe that in the future, you may have to represent Datacom on matters
before the Philadelphia Traffic Court, the Sheriff's Department, the Office of
the City Controller, and the Office of the District Attorney, all of which are
operated and administered by elected public officials independent of the Mayor
of Philadelphia. You state that while you were Chief of Staff, you did not
have or exercise any supervisory power or authority over these offices, and
that you carefully maintained complete isolation from the affairs of the PPA,
including the Datacom contract.
You also state that in the future, you may need to represent Datacom
before Departments of the City which are within the executive and
administrative branch of the City of Philadephia under the Mayor's Office,
such as the Police Department and the Street's Department. While you were
Chief of Staff, you performed various duties and exercised some authority over
these Departments on behalf of the Mayor, however, none of these activities
related to the Datacom contract or any other PPA affair.
In this regard, you have requested the Ethics Commission to consider
several questions, including:
1. Whether you may represent Datacom on matters before the Philadelphia
Parking Authority within one year after leaving your post as Chief of Staff
for the Mayor of Philadelphia;
2. Whether you may represent Datacom on matters before the Philadelphia
Traffic Court, the Sheriff's Department, the Office of the City Controller,
and the Office of the District Attorney within one year after leaving your
post as Chief of Staff for the Mayor of Philadelphia;
3. Whether you may represent Datacom on matters before Departments
within the executive and adminstrative branch of the City of Philadelphia
which are under the jurisdiction of the Mayor within one year after leaving
your post as Chief of Staff for the Mayor of Philadelphia; and
4. Whether, if there are limitations on your ability to represent
Datacom before any body, you may have contacts with those restricted bodies
limited to the administration of the existing contract between Datacom and the
PPA.
Mr. Thomas R. Wrigley
May 25, 1984
Page 3
Discussion: As Chief of Staff for the Mayor of Philadelphia, you are a
"public employee" subject to the Ethics Act, 65 P.S. 401 et seq. Upon leaving
the Mayor's Office, you became a "former public employee ", subject to the
restrictions of Section 3(e) of the Ethics Act, which provides:
(e) No former official or public employee shall represent
a person, with or without compensation, on any matter
before the governmental body with which he has been
associated for one year after he leaves that body.
65 P.S. 403(e).
From the description of your duties as Chief of Staff for former Mayor
Green, we conclude that the governmental bodies with which you are
"associated" include any of the Departments of the City of Philadelphia within
the executive and administrative branch of the City under the office of the
Mayor, including but not limited to the Police Department and the Streets
Department. However, in light of the fact that the PPA is a separate legal
entity from the City, in general, and the Mayor's Office and executive branch
in particular , we do not find that the PPA constitutes a governmental body
with which you were associated. The same is true of the Philadelphia Traffic
Court, the Sheriff's Department, the Office of the City Controller, and the
Office of the District Attorney, because all are operated and administered by
elected public officials who are independent of the Mayor as the Chief
executive of Philadelphia. Thus, the one year restriction applies to your
representation of Datacom or other persons before any of the Departments
within the executive and administrative branch of the City of Philadelphia
under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Mayor because you were "associated
with" only these entities. The one year restriction does not apply to the PPA
or any of the other Departments or offices which are listed in Question 2 of
your inquiry and with which you were not associated because they did not come
under the executive and administrative branch of the City of Philadelphia or
the Office of the Mayor.
The Ethics Commission has determined that the "representation" prohibited
by Section 3(e) extends to such activities as:
1. Personal appearances before the governmental body or bodies with
which you were associated, here any of the Departments within the executive
and administrative branch of the City under the Office of the Mayor. This
restriction includes a prohibition against negotiating or renegotiating
contracts with those bodies;
2. Attempts to influence those governmental bodies;
3. Participating in any matter before any of those bodies in any case
over which you had supervision, direct involvement, or responsibility while
employed as Chief of Staff for Mayor Green; and
Mr. Thomas R. Wrigley
May 25, 1984
Page 4
4. Lobbying, that is representing the interests of any person or client
before these governmental bodies in relation to legislation, regulations, etc.
See Russell, 80 -048 and Seltzer, 80 -044.
The mere act of preparing and signing a proposal or-of having your name
appear as the person who will serve in regard to the proposal (such as
technical advisor) constitutes an attempt to influence your former
governmental body, should such a proposal be presented to or be reviewed by
any of the bodies within the executive and administrative branch of the City.
See Kilareski, 80 -054. This is because the inclusion of your name on the
proposal as the potential of influencing the decision of the governmental
body with which you were associated and is, therefore, prohibited within the
one year period after you leave public employment.
While these restrictions apply to you for one year following your
termination of service as Mayor Green's Chief of Staff, you may, nevertheless,
engage in the following activities even with regard to your former
governmental body within the one year period:
a. Administer, rather than negotiate or renegotiate, any contract that
exists or is to be awarded to your employer or any of your clients so long as
the contract is entered into without the inclusion of your name as noted
herein. See Dalton, 80 -056 and Beaser, 81 -538;
b. Make general informational inquiries of the Departments within the
executive and administrative branch of the City of Philadelphia or PPA so long
as no attempt is made to influence those bodies as prohibited and discussed
above;
c. Utilize the knowledge and expertise gained during your tenure as a
public employee so long as you do not use any confidential information gained
during that service; and
d. Appear and represent any person on behalf of any employer or client
before any third forum or governmental body other than those governmental
bodies with which you have been deemed to have been associated.
Finally, we address the specific questions which you outlined in your
request for advice. With regard to Question 1, in light of the fact that the
PAA is a separate legal entity, you may represent Datacom on matters before
the PPA within the year after leaving your post as Chief of Staff for the
Mayor of Philadelphia.
Mr. Thomas R. Wrigley
May 25, 1984
Page 5
With regard to Question 2, in light of the fact that the Philadelphia
Traffic Court, the Sheriff's Department, the Office of the City Controller,
and the Office of the District Attorney are all operated and administered by
elected public officials who are independent of the Mayor of Philadelphia, as
well as the fact that you did not exercise any supervisory power or authority
over or with respect to such offices, you are not to be deemed to have been
associated with these entities. Thus, you may represent Datacom before such
offices within the first year after leaving your post as Chief of Staff for
Mayor Green.
With regard to Question 3, your conduct should be guided by the
discussion above concerning representation before your former governmental
body. Specifically, you may not represent Datacom before departments within
the executive and administrative branch of the City of Philadelphia which are
under the jurisdiction of the Mayor. This is because you exercised authority
over or with respect to such Departments on behalf of the Mayor. The fact
that in your activities you had nothing to do with the Datacom contract does
not alter or affect the conclusion that you were associated with these
Departments. Representation, as discussed above before such Departments, is
therefore, prohibited within the one year period after you left public
employment.
With regard to Question 4, concerning the administration of the existing
Datacom /PPA contract, it is permissible to administer this contract because
you neither negotiated nor renegotiated this contract while employed by the
City nor represented Datacom before any of the governmental bodies with which
you were "associated" with respect to this contract.
Conclusion: Upon your termination of service as a public employee, you became
a former public employee subject to the restrictions imposed under Section
3(e) of the Ethics Act. Your conduct within the first year following your
termination of employment as Chief of Staff for Mayor Green must conform to
this advice, and you should take note of both the prohibited and permissible
activities as discussed above. Additionally, as a former public employee, you
must file a Statement of Financial Interests for each year in which you held
the position and for the year following your termination of service.
Pursuant to Section 7(9)(ii), this Advice is a complete defense in any
enforcement proceeding initiated by the Commission, and evidence of good faith
conduct in any other civil or criminal proceeding, providing the requestor has
disclosed truthfully all the material facts and committed the acts complained
of in reliance on the Advice given.
Mr. Thomas R. Wrigley
May 25, 1984
Page 6
SSC /na
This letter is a public record and will be made available as such.
Finally, if you disagree with this Advice or if you have any reason
to challenge same, you may request that the full Commission review this
Advice. A personal appearance before the full Commission will be scheduled
and a formal Opinion from the Commission will be issued. Any such appeal must
be made, in writing, to the Commission within 15 days of service of this
Advice pursuant to 51 Pa. Code 2.12.
cc: Mayor's Office
Sincerely,
dra S. Chri :' ianson
General Counsel