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HomeMy WebLinkAbout80-508 McEldowneyTO: DISCUSSION: Richard L. McEldowney 228 2nd Avenue Altoona, PA 16602 STATE ETHICS COMMISSION P. 0. Box 1179 Harrisburg, PA 17108 January 22, 1980 ADVICE OF CHIEF COUNSEL 80 -508 RE: City Councilman (part -time position) being employed as an engineer with a private company FACTS: On January 4, 1980, Richard L. McEldowney requested an advisory opinion concerning his employment with the Engineering & Associated Design Services firm during the period in which he will serve as a Councilman to the City of Altoona, city of the third-class. Mr. McEldowney acknowledged: There will be times while I am fulfilling my obligations for the City that I will be able to use my contacts and influence outside the City with present or potential clients of EADS. I am not asking EADS to compensate me while performing services that are being compensated by the City of Altoona. The issue is how a City Councilman may perform his obligations when he will be in contact with potential clients of the engineering firm with which he holds employment. Section 3(a) of the State Ethics Act reads as follows: 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. Section 1 of the Ethics Act requires that a public official must "present neither a conflict or the appearance of a conflict with the public trust." Richard L. McEldowney January 22, 1980 Page 2 Abstention from participation in any matter affecting the Engineering & Associated Design Services Company is likewise required by the State Ethics Act. Since Mr. McEldowney will still be an employee of EADS, Section 3(c) of the Act applies. Section 3(c) states that when an employer or a public official enters into any contract valued at $500 or more with the governmental body with which that official is associated, the contract must be awarded through an open and public process, including prior public notice and subsequent public disclosure of all proposals considered and contracts awarded. Thus, should EADS desire to enter into any contract with the City of Altoona for an amount in excess of $500, it must do so through an open and public process as defined in Section 3 (c) . CONCLUSION: Should the employer of a public official decide to do business with that public official's governmental body, the contract must be awarded through an open and public process, including prior public notice and subsequent public disclosure of all proposals considered and contracts awarded. There is no conflict of interest of an employee of an engineering firm becoming a City Councilman, provided, however, he does not 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. 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. Richard L. McEldowney January 22, 1980 Page 3 DRM /rdp -1 A personal appearance before the Commission and a formal opinion will be issued upon your request, if you feel this reply does not suffice. This letter is a public record and will be made available as such. r;ea/7 64c1L, DAVID RITTENSHOUSE MORRISON Chief Counsel he statute, that is, to of season and condemn t such time of a sub- parts of the protected . Rhodes, 14 D. & C.2d 35, 195S. ing streets and public Aphis, were not "game otection of Game Law their extermination by lth as a nuisance tend- • health. Hayward v. 51, 354 Pa. 266, 1946. "The Game Law." C le same as those of an of such law and 1 any provisions of or superseded; nor thereunder, or any :rued or vested, or i pending or to be ish any offense un- June 3, P.L. 1225, , and, if any of its the decision of the ping provisions of ntent that this act nbly had such un- ein. 1937, June 3, Ch. 1 GAME COMMISSION 34 '§ 1311.201 Ch. 1 ARTICLE II.— PENNSYLVANIA GAME COMMISSION Saved from Repeal Act 1937, June 3, P.L. 1225 (sections 1311.1 to 1311.1502 of this title) was saved from repeal by section 460 - 1204( of Title 3, Agriculture. § 1311.201 Appointment of Pennsylvania Game Commis- sion An independent administrative commission to be known as the Pennsylvania Game Commission is hereby created. The commis- sion shall consist of eight competent and the his State and o n hal l , be appointed by the Godernor, by of two- thirds of all the members of the Senate. The members of the commission shall be well informed on the subject of wildlife conservation and restoration, and members appointed to fill vacan- cies, existing prior to or occurring subsequent to the passage f s amendment, shall be appointed from the various geographical tions of the Commonwealth, so that ultimately one and only one member shall be a resident of each of the following districts : (a) One from the Counties of Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Lawrence, Venango, Butler, Warren, Forest, and Clarion, constituting the first district; (b) One from the Counties of Beaver, Allegheny, Washington, Greene, Armstrong, Indiana, Westmoreland, and Fayette, consti- tuting the second district; (c) One from the Counties of McKean, Elk, Jefferson, Potter,' Cameron, Clearfield, Clinton, and Centre, constituting the third district ; (d) One from the Counties of Cambria, Somerset, Blair, Bedford, Huntingdon, and Fulton, constituting the fourth district; (c) One from the Counties of Tioga, Lyconling, Union, Bradford, Sullivan, Columbia, Montour, and Northumberland, constituting the fifth district; (f) One from m erland, Counties dams, Dauphin, York, Lebanon, and Lan - lin, Perry, C caster, constituting the sixth district; (g) One from the Counties of Susquehanna, Wyoming, Luzerne, Lackawanna, Carbon, Wayne, Pike, and Monroe, constituting the seventh district; 487