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Home My WebLink About84-616 SlenkerCharles K. Slenker Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board Northwest Office Building Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17124 Dear Mr. Slenker: STATE ETHICS COMMISSION 308 FINANCE BUILDING P.O. BOX 11470 HARRISBURG, PA 1 71 08 -1 470 TELEPHONE (717) 783 -1610 ADVICE OF COUNSEL October 1, 1984 RE: Consultant Business, Employment with LCB 84 -616 This responds to your letter of September 7, 1984, in which you requested advice from the State Ethics Commission. Issue: You ask whether, consistent with the Ethics Act, you may serve as an employee of the Liquor Control Board (LCB) while engaging in an consulting business. Facts: You indicate that you currently serve as a Liquor Distribution Manager I with the LCB, the Bureau of Logistics, the Inventory and Traffic Management Division of the Central Office Headquarters. As such, according to your job description, your duties and responsibilities include the following: 1. You are responsible for internal auditing of freight bills and negotiating specialized freight quotations. 2. You are responsible for overseeing freight costs which are applied to a retail price of codes on collect shipments in comparing same with the actual costs paid for the transportation related to such codes. 3. You are responsible for establishing a quarterly review program which is designed to insure that the vendors' quotations are in compliance with the LCB objectives and to insure that the cost of freight charges are being recovered by a process of monitoring in -bound transportation costs for collect shipments. 4. You are responsible for reviewing and analyzing operating procedures for inventory and traffic management and for recommending changes that will reduce the cost to the LCB of same and increase the efficiency of the Inventory and Traffic Management Division. Charles K. Slenker October 1, 1984 Page 2 5. You are responsible for checking transportation rates and related charges on invoices submitted to the LCB by vendors, railroads, motor carriers, etc. 6. You are responsible for consulting with railroads, motor carriers, etc. Regarding transportation rates and routing. You indicate that you considering starting a consulting business. This business would involve consulting with respect to accounting, transportation, and marketing in the York area. This business would consist of work and services provided to small businesses and companies that might require the special techniques and skills which you possess but which do not have sufficient in -house personnel to handle all or any of the services which you might provide. The services which you would provide in this consulting business would include the following: A. You would provide accounting services which would include bookkeeping, paying of invoices, and other general accounting functions. B. You might provide a "transportation consulting service" which would include finding the best method, service, and cost for moving a companies merchandise from point -to- point, in -bound or out - bound. This service would also include providing auditing of invoices for the companies which would insure that charges for such transportation are correct. C. You might also wish to provide "marketing" services such as advertising. You indicate that you recognize the limitation and will not "deal with any type of liquor business" insofar as you might offer consulting services, as outlined above. However, you wish to offer and provide such consulting services and wish to know what limitations, if any, would be placed upon your efforts pursuant to the Ethics Act. Discussion: Initially, we will, for purposes of this response, assume that as a Liquor Distribution Manager I with the LCB that you are to be considered a "public employee" as that term is defined in the State Ethics Act. Accordingly, your conduct as such would be governed by the restrictions and prohibitions of the Ethics Act. Also, in response to your inquiry, we note that our response will be strictly limited to the application and interpretation of the State Ethics Act. The jurisdiction of the Ethics Commission and, therefore, this response, is strictly limited to interpreting the Ethics Act. Accordingly, this response should not be taken as "clearance" with respect to your proposed conduct under any other code of ethics, regulations, management directives, statutes, etc., other than the State Ethics Act. Charles K. Slenker October 1, 1984 Page 3 The State Ethics Act, insofar as it regulates the conduct of "public employees ", requires in Section 3(a) of the State Ethics Act that: Section 3. Restricted activities. (a) No public official or public employee shall use his public office or any confidential information received through his holding public office to obtain financial gain other than compensation provided by law for himself, a member of his immediate family, or a business with which he is associated. 65 P.S. 403(a). Thus, if you offer or provide such consulting services, it is clear that you may not use your public employment in order to benefit your business. You could not use confidential information acquired through your public position to seek or secure business for your consulting business. You must be particularly careful that you do not offer or provide consulting services, for example, to individuals, businesses, or companies whom you discover may have a need for such services during the course of your employment with the LCB. You have already recognized this limitation and, therefore, appropriately, indicate that you cannot and will not offer your consulting services to any type of liquor business. This is an appropriate and necessary restriction in order to insure that your activities in your private consulting business do not conflict nor appear to conflict with the public trust. Otherwise, there is no inherent restriction or absolute prohibition in the Ethics Act against your engaging in outside employment, in general, or in this consulting business in particular. The Ethics Act is primarily concerned with those situations in which you may, as a public employee and as a private entrepreneur seek to or be in a position where you would be required to serve entities who interests are adverse to each other. See Alfano, 80 -007. Given the restriction that you will not offer your consulting se v ces to "any type of liquor business ", as outlined above, the possibility of your offering or providing services to companies or businesses which would have interests which would be adverse to those of the LCB, whom you are also required to serve as a public employee, is remote. Accordingly, under the Ethics Act, there is no reason to impose a blanket prohibition against your engaging in such outside employment as the consulting business which you outlined above. Conclusion: Neither the Ethics Act nor the opinions of the Ethics Commission would, under these circumstances, prohibit you from engaging in the consulting business, outlined above, so long as you abide by the restrictions which you have indicated and which are required as set forth above as to those businesses for whom you may provide or offer consulting services. Charles K. Slenker October 1, 1984 Page 4 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, 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 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 cc: Nicholas DeBenedictis, Secretary S'ncerely, .iat - 5 S. Chri 'ianson General Couns