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HomeMy WebLinkAbout84-528 BurdellVictor J. Burdell 521 Prince Avenue North Braddock, PA 15104 RE: Voting, Chief of Police Dear Mr. Burdell: Mailing Address STATE ETHICS COMMISSION P.O. BOX 1 179 HARRISBURG, PA 17108 TELEPHONE: (717) 783 -1610 February 10, 1984 ADVICE OF COUNSEL 84 -528 This responds to your letter of January 11, 1984, in which you requested advice from the State Ethics Commission. Issue: You ask whether you must, under the Ethics Act, abstain from voting to elect your cousin to the position of Chief of Police. Facts: You currently serve as a Councilman in the Third Ward in North Braddock Borough. The question has arisen as to whether an individual should be appointed to the position of Chief of Police. One of the persons who may be appointed to this position is your cousin. You ask whether you may participate in the Council's decisions or would be required to abstain from same under the Ethics Act. Discussion: As a Borough Councilman, you are a "public official" as that term is defined in the State Ethics Act, 65 P.S. 402. As such, your conduct must conform to the requirements of the State Ethics Act. However, there is nothing in the State Ethics Act nor the decisions of the Commission which would indicate that you are required by the State Ethics Act to abstain from participating in the Council's decisions regarding the appointment of your cousin to the position of Chief of Police within the Borough. Compare Leete, 82 -005, where the Commission determined that certain members of a county salary board could not vote on salary decisions that would effect their wives and where a county commissioner could not vote, as a salary board member, to set the salary of her brother as director of a county zoning agency in order to avoid an appearance of a conflict of interest. In your case, the relationship of you to your cousin is not so direct as was present in Leete, and therefore, abstention would not, similarly, be required in your case. Conclusion: There is nothing in the Ethics Act nor in the opinions of the Commission which would indicate that you are required to abstain from participating as a member of Council in a decision of Council to appoint your cousin as the Chief of Police within the Borough. State Ethics Commission • 308 Finance Building • Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Victor J. Burdell February 10, 1984 Page 2 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. This letter is a public record and will be made available as such. Finally, i f you di sagree with thi s 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 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. SSC /rdp Sincerely, Sand S. Christianson z ' General Counsel