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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2nd Qtr 2018 INDEX State Ethics Commission Quarterly Rulings for Second Quarter 2018 ADVICES (Ethics): 18-521 (Coyle): Re: Whether, as a Member and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Bucks County Opportunity Council, Inc., you would be considered a "public official" subject to the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (the "Ethics Act"), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., and the Regulations of the State Ethics Commission, 51 Pa. Code § 11.1 et seq., and particularly, the requirements for filing Statements of Financial Interests. 18-522 (Brungo): Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., would impose prohibitions, restrictions, or requirements upon an individual serving as a school director, who owns a commercial property, with regard to entering into an agreement with the school district whereby: (1) the school district would lease the commercial property for a nine-year period in order to use the commercial property to house the school district’s custodial/maintenance staff and maintenance equipment and supplies; and (2) the school district would have the option to purchase the commercial property in fee simple at the conclusion of the lease period. 18-523 (DeLuca): Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., would impose prohibitions or restrictions upon a School Director for the Dallas School District, who in a private capacity is employed as a Water Quality Specialist with Suez North America, with regard to voting to approve payment of the Dallas School District’s regular monthly bills, where such bills would include a monthly utility bill from Suez North America for water usage. 18-524 (Barletta): Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., would impose prohibitions or restrictions upon a - 1 - member of a city council, whose brother is employed by a municipal authority, with regard to voting on the appointment of member(s) of the municipal authority board of directors. . 18-525 (Plevyak): Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., would impose prohibitions or restrictions upon an individual serving as a township supervisor with regard to participating in discussions, deliberations, or votes of the township board of supervisors pertaining to zoning ordinance and zoning map amendments, ordinances, regulations, or other matters that may affect the operation of an existing hog farm or future hog farms in the township, where: (1) the individual is opposed to hog farms being located in proximity to populated areas of the township; (2) the individual is not in the farming or hog farming business; (3) the individual does not own land near the existing hog farm operations or have any businesses that would potentially compete with a hog farm operation, and neither does the individual’s family; (4) prior to becoming a township supervisor, the individual provided financial support to litigants opposed to the operation of the existing hog farm; and (5) since the individual has become a township supervisor, the individual has stopped giving financial support to the litigants opposed to the operation of the existing hog farm. 18-526: Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., would impose prohibitions or restrictions upon an A for Political Subdivision B, who in a private capacity is employed with a firm that is a \[type of firm\], with regard to participating in votes or other actions of the Political Subdivision B C pertaining to a pending land development plan or other matters involving client(s) of the firm. 18-527 (Luciani): Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., would impose prohibitions or restrictions upon an individual with regard to performing the duties of his newly-elected position as a township auditor, where: (1) the individual’s father is a supervisor for the township; (2) the individual’s father is not employed by the township; (3) the township board of supervisors - 2 - appoints a certified public accountant to perform the annual audit of the township accounts; and (4) the duties of the elected township auditors are limited to setting the compensation for township supervisors who are employed by the township and the discretionary auditing of the records of the magisterial district judge to determine the amount of fines and costs paid over or due to the township. 18-528 (Speers): Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., would impose prohibitions or restrictions upon a township tax collector with regard to appointing her son to the position of deputy tax collector, where factually, her son would receive no compensation for serving in such position and would only collect and settle taxes during any incapacitation of the tax collector. 18-529 (Doherty): Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., would impose restrictions upon employment of the Chief Procurement Officer of the Bureau of Procurement within the Pennsylvania Department of General Services following termination of Commonwealth employment. 18-530 (Myers): Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., would impose restrictions upon employment of an Administrative Officer 3 following termination of employment with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (“PHMC”). 18-531 (Saggiomo): Re: Whether, in your former capacity as a Project Director for the City of Philadelphia (“City”) Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, you would be considered a “public official” or “public employee” subject to the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., and the Regulations of the State Ethics Commission, 51 Pa. Code § 11.1 et seq., such that the restrictions of Section 1103(g) of the Ethics Act would now be applicable to you. 18-532 (Plummer): Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., would impose restrictions upon employment of a Civil - 3 - Engineer – Bridges following termination of employment with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (“PennDOT”). 18-533 (Shimko): Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., would impose prohibitions or restrictions upon any of two Members of the Borough of Jefferson Hills (“Borough”) Planning Commission (“Borough Planning Commission”) or two Members of Borough Council with regard to participating in their official capacities in matters pertaining to and/or potentially affecting a corporation named “AUUE, Inc.” (“AUUE”), the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (“UPMC”), or the Allegheny Health Network-Jefferson Hospital (“AHN-Jefferson Hospital”), including subdivision plans, land development plans, or a comprehensive zoning ordinance/map amendment and rezoning process, where: (1) one of the two Borough Planning Commission Members works at a UPMC hospital in his capacity as an employee of a non-profit organization named “University of Pittsburgh Physicians” (“UPP”) and has UPMC-related health insurance with UPMC Health Plan; (2) the other of the two Borough Planning Commission Members works at AHN-Jefferson Hospital in his capacity as an employee of an independent entity named “South Pittsburgh Anesthesia”; (3) one of the two Borough Council Members has Allegheny Health Network (“AHN”)-related health insurance with Highmark; and (4) the other of the two Borough Council Members has UPMC-related health insurance with UPMC Health Plan, and the wife of the Borough Council Member works at a UPMC hospital in her capacity as an employee of UPP. 18-533-S (Shimko): Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., would impose prohibitions or restrictions upon either of two Members of the Borough of Jefferson Hills (“Borough”) Planning Commission (“Borough Planning Commission”) with regard to participating in their official capacities in matters pertaining to and/or potentially affecting a corporation named “AUUE, Inc.” (“AUUE”), the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (“UPMC”), or the Allegheny Health Network-Jefferson Hospital (“AHN-Jefferson Hospital”), including subdivision plans, land development plans, or a - 4 - comprehensive zoning ordinance/map amendment and rezoning process, where: (1) one of the two Borough Planning Commission Members works at a UPMC hospital in his capacity as an employee of a non-profit organization named “University of Pittsburgh Physicians” (“UPP”) and has UPMC- related health insurance with UPMC Health Plan; and (2) the other of the two Borough Planning Commission Members works at AHN-Jefferson Hospital in his capacity as an employee of an independent entity named “South Pittsburgh Anesthesia.” 18-534 (Kelly): Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., would impose restrictions upon employment of a Local Government Policy Specialist following termination of employment with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (“DCED”). 18-535: Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., would impose prohibitions or restrictions upon either of two individuals serving as As for Political Subdivision B, each of whom is a member of the C of the D known as E, with regard to participating in votes or other actions of the Political Subdivision B F pertaining to E. 18-536 (Gregor): Re: Whether an individual serving as an Investigator for the Monroe County Office of the Public Defender under Class Code 1522 would be considered a “public employee” subject to the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., and therefore would be subject to the restrictions of Section 1103(a) of the Ethics Act (pertaining to conflict of interest). 18-537 (Clark): Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., would impose restrictions upon employment of a School Director for the Butler Area School District, who is an attorney, following termination of service as a School Director. 18-538 (Falatovich): Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., - 5 - would impose prohibitions or restrictions upon any of four members of a borough council with regard to participating in negotiations, votes, or other actions of borough council pertaining to a county municipal authority’s proposal to purchase the assets and assimilate some or all of the union and non-union employees of a joint sewage authority that was formed by the borough and two other municipalities, where: (1) one of the borough council members, who is borough council president, is a union employee of the sewage authority as well as a union steward; (2) one of the borough council members, who is borough council vice president, is a non-union employee of the sewage authority; (3) one of the borough council members is a union employee of the county municipal authority and a union trustee; and (4) one of the borough council members receives a stipend of $200 per month for serving as a member of the board of the sewage authority. 18-539 (Clark): Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., would impose restrictions upon employment of a School Director for the Butler Area School District, who is an attorney, following termination of service as a School Director. 18-540 (VanSteenberg): Re: Whether, pursuant to Section 1103(a) of the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1103(a), an individual serving as a county treasurer would have a conflict of interest with regard to collecting the county hotel room rental tax and providing the tax revenue to a tourism/visitors bureau for it to use in promoting tourism, if the individual would become the treasurer of a 501(c)(4) corporation that will receive funding from the visitors bureau to advertise a festival run by the corporation. ORDERS (Ethics): 1734 (Birks): Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics Commission 1735 (Wheeler): Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics Commission - 6 - ORDERS (SFI): 582-S (Harrison): Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics Commission as to the alleged delinquency and/or deficiency of Statement(s) of Financial Interests required to be filed pursuant to Sections 1104 and 1105 of the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq. 583-S (Coleman): Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics Commission as to the alleged delinquency and/or deficiency of Statement(s) of Financial Interests required to be filed pursuant to Sections 1104 and 1105 of the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq. 584-S (Powell): Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics Commission as to the alleged delinquency and/or deficiency of Statement(s) of Financial Interests required to be filed pursuant to Sections 1104 and 1105 of the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq. 585-S (Beck): Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics Commission as to the alleged delinquency and/or deficiency of Statement(s) of Financial Interests required to be filed pursuant to Sections 1104 and 1105 of the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq. ORDERS (Lobbying): 132-SL (Vol. Amer.): Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics Commission as to the alleged delinquency and/or deficiency of registration statement(s) and/or expense report(s) required to be filed pursuant to Pennsylvania’s lobbying disclosure law, 65 Pa.C.S. § 13A01 et seq., hereinafter referred to as the “Lobbying Disclosure Law.” 133-SL (CBD Adv.): Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics Commission as to the alleged delinquency and/or deficiency of registration statement(s) and/or expense report(s) required to be filed pursuant to Pennsylvania’s lobbying disclosure law, 65 Pa.C.S. § 13A01 et seq., hereinafter referred to as the “Lobbying Disclosure Law.” - 7 - OPINIONS (Ethics): 18-004: Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (“Ethics Act”), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., would impose any prohibitions or restrictions upon a State Legislator serving in the A with regard to authoring and having published a non-fiction book that would assess the B of the C and recommend a D for the C, where: (1) in a private capacity, the State Legislator is a \[type of professional\] with an extensive background in E, F, G, and H; (2) the proposed book would contain the State Legislator’s proposed D for the C and suggestions for potential legislative changes that would aid in improving the C’s B; (3) pieces of legislation authored by the State Legislator or other State Legislators would likely be discussed in the proposed book; and (4) the State Legislator either would receive no compensation for his work and would make copies of such book available without cost, or in the alternative, would donate to the C any royalties that he would receive as a result of the publisher selling copies of such book. - 8 -