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HomeMy WebLinkAbout81-592 GeorgiadisGus Georgiadis 301 Chestnut Street 2114 City Towers Harrisburg, PA 17101 Mailing Address: STATE ETHICS COMMISSION P.O. BOX 1179 HARRISBURG, PA 17108 TELEPHONE: (717) 783 -1610 July 17, 1981 ADVICE OF COUNSEL RE: Section 3(e); Senator's Administrative Assistant Dear Mr. Georgiadis: 81 -592 This responds to your letter of June 12, 1981, in which you requested an opinion from the Ethics Commission. Issue: You asked for advice as to the application of the Ethics Act to an Administrative Assistant to a Pennsylvania State Senator. Facts: You informed us that you have been employed by the Senate of Pennsylvania since June 5, 1976 and have been assigned solely to Senator James E. Ross. As an Admini- strative Assistant you managed the Senator's Harrisburg office, supervised and trained the office staff and supervised the preparation of constituent inquiries and requests. You also discussed proposed legislation with the Senator and represented him in discussions with constituents and the media. You did not recommend action to any other Senator nor were you responsible to any other Senator. Discussion: We assume that you desire to leave state employment and want to know how the Ethics Act, 65 P.S. §401 et seq., applies to your conduct as a former public employee. The Ethics Act specifically governs the former public employee in Section 3(e): No former ... 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) . State Ethics Commission • 308 Finance Building • Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Gus Georgiadis July 17, 1981 Page 2 Before discussing what you are permitted to do as a former public employee it is necessary to determine the extent of the "governmental body" with which you have been assoicated. In a previous opinion, the Ethics Commission considered the scope of the term "governmental body" as applied to a former Director of Intergovernmental Relations on the staff of the Senate Minority Leader. Ewing, 79 -010. There, the Commission held that the former Director's governmental body was the Office of the Senate Minority Leader. Analogously, your governmental body is the Office of Senator James E. Ross. Accordingly, you may not represent any person with or without compensation before the Senator for the one -year period following your termination of service with the Commonwealth. The term "representation" has also been further interpreted by opinions of the Commission. Specifically, this term has been held to preclude, for the one -year period, the following activities: 1. Personally appearing before the Senator with whom you were associated, including but not limited to negotiations on contracts; 2. Attempting to influence him; 3. Participating in any manner in a specific case, matter or contract over which you had supervision, direct involvement or responsibility while employed with the Senator; In order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, prohibited by the Ethics Act, therefore, you may not participate in any manner or engage in lobbying, for example, on any specific matter, case or bill over which you had such supervision, direct involvement or responsibility while with the Senator. See Dalton, 80 -056 and Adler, 79 -043. 4. Lobbying, that is representing the interest of any person, before the Senator as to legislation, regulations, etc. See Morris, 80-039 and Russell, 80 -048; 5. Signing and submitting under your own signature proposals, contracts, or other items to the Senator; Gus Georgiadis July 17, 1981 Page 3 6. Including your name on a bid proposal submitted to the Senator as an individual who would be involved in administering any contract to provide technical assistance which is subject to the proposal. See Dalton, 80 -056 and Kilareski, 80- 054. While these restrictions must be imposed you may, however, engage in the following activities: A. You may administer, rather than negotiate, any contract that is to be awarded to any future employer or client so long as that contract is ' awarded without your name being included as noted in items 5 and 6 above. B. You may make general informational inquiries of the Senator so long as no attempt is made to influence the Senator's office as noted above. C. You may utilize the knowledge and expertise gained during your tenure as a public employee vis -a -vis consulting clients except as set forth above. D. You may appear and represent any person on behalf of any client or a new employer before any govern- mental agency and in third forums, such as state or federal courts except, as set forth in No. 3 above. Conclusion: As a former public employee your conduct should be guided by this Advice. The prohibitions and the activities allowable are noted above and should be met. In addition, as a former public employee you are required to file a Financial Interest Statement for each year that you hold office and the year following your termination of service. Accordingly, such a Financial Interest Statement should be filed no later than May 1, 1982. 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. Gus Georgiadis July 17, 1981 Page 4 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 may be scheduled and a formal Opinion . from the Commission will be issued. You should make such a request or indicate your disapproval of this Advice within the next 30 days. SSC /rdp Sincerely, Ai � �.. "L Gd '� antra S. r''stianson General Cou el