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HomeMy WebLinkAbout22-513 Steltz PHONE: 717-783-1610 STATE ETHICS COMMISSION FACSIMILE: 717-787-0806 TOLL FREE: 1-800-932-0936 FINANCE BUILDING WEBSITE: www.ethics.pa.gov 613 NORTH STREET, ROOM 309 HARRISBURG, PA 17120-0400 ADVICE OF COUNSEL March 14, 2022 To the Requester: 22-513 Dear Ms. Sarah Steltz: This responds to your emails received March 1, 2022, by which you requested an advisory from the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission (Commission), seeking guidance as to the general issue presented below: Issue: Would the post-employment restrictions of Section 1103(g) of the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (Ethics Act), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1103(g), prohibit you, as a former Chief of Staff for the Commerce Department of the City of Philadelphia (City), from serving on both the Board of Directors of Philadelphia Works, Inc. (Philadelphia Works) and a committee of the Board of Directors that is chaired by an employee of the City Commerce Department? Brief Answer: NO. Section 1103(g) of the Ethics Act, which restricts a former public promised or actual compensation before his former governmental body, would not prohibit you from serving on both the Board of Directors of Philadelphia Works and a committee of the Board of Directors that is chaired by an employee of the City Commerce Department, subject to the condition that your service on both the Board of Directors and the committee would be without promised or actual compensation. Facts: You request an advisory from the Commission based upon submitted facts that may be fairly summarized as follows: Steltz, 22-513 March 14, 2022 Page 2 You are a former Chief of Staff for the City Commerce Department. You are currently employed as Vice President, Economic Competitiveness, for the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia. You also serve on the Board of Directors (Board) of Philadelphia Works, -profit organization that serves employers and connects youth and adult career seekers to employment and training opportunities. The Philadelphia Works Board has committees which are focused on finance, employer engagement, and youth. The Employer Engagement Committee consists of approximately ten members. An employee of the City Commerce Department voluntarily serves as the chair of the Employer Engagement Committee. You have been asked to serve on the Employer Engagement Committee. You ask whether the Ethics Act would permit you to serve on the Employer Engagement Committee. It is administratively noted that the Amended and Restated Bylaws (Bylaws) of Philadelphia Works, adopted July 1, 2012, provide that no compensation shall be paid to any Member of the Board of Philadelphia Works who is not employed by Philadelphia Works. See, philaworks.org. Discussion: It is initially noted that pursuant to Sections 1107(10) and 1107(11) of the Ethics Act, 65 Pa.C.S. §§ 1107(10), (11), advisories are issued to the requester based upon the facts that the requester has submitted. In issuing the advisory based upon the facts that the requester has submitted, the Commission does not engage in an independent investigation of the facts, nor does it speculate as to facts that have not been submitted. It is the burden of the requester to truthfully disclose all material facts relevant to the inquiry. 65 Pa.C.S. §§ 1107(10), (11). An advisory only affords a defense to the extent the requester has truthfully disclosed all material facts. As the submitted facts do not include a position description for your former position with the City Commerce Department, this Advice presumes, without deciding, that in the former capacity as a Chief of Staff for the City Commerce Department, you were subject to the Ethics Act and the Regulations of the State Ethics Commission. Consequently, upon termination of your employment with the City Commerce Department, you became a former public employee subject to Section 1103(g) of the Ethics Act. While Section 1103(g) does not prohibit a former public official/public employee from accepting a position of employment, it does restrict the former public official/public employee l body with which he has been § 1103. Restricted activities (g) Former official or employee.--No former public official or public employee shall represent a person, with promised or actual compensation, on any matter before the governmental body with which he has been associated for one year after he leaves that body. Steltz, 22-513 March 14, 2022 Page 3 65 Pa.C.S. § 1103(g) (Emphasis added). governmental body with which a public official or public employee is or has been associated are specifically defined in the Ethics Act as follows: § 1102. Definitions Represent. To act on behalf of any other person in any activity which includes, but is not limited to, the following: personal appearances, negotiations, lobbying and submitting bid or contract proposals which are signed by or contain the name of a former public official or public employee. Person. A business, governmental body, individual, corporation, union, association, firm, partnership, committee, club or other organization or group of persons. Governmental body with which a public official or public employee is or has been associated. The governmental body within State government or a political subdivision by which the public official or employee is or has been employed or to which the public official or employee is or has been appointed or elected and subdivisions and offices within that governmental body. 65 Pa.C.S. § 1102. The term person is very broadly defined. It includes, inter alia, corporations and other businesses. It also includes the former public official/public employee himself, Confidential Opinion, 93-005, as well as a new governmental employer. Ledebur, Opinion 95-007. The term represent is also broadly defined to prohibit acting on behalf of any person in any activity. Examples of prohibited representation include: (1) personal appearances before the former governmental body or bodies; (2) attempts to influence; (3) submission of bid or contract proposals which are signed by or contain the name of the former public official/public employee; (4) participating in any matters before the former governmental body as to acting on behalf of a person; (5) lobbying; and (6) acting to make known to the former governmental body the representation of, or work for, a new employer. Popovich, Opinion 89-005; Edley, Opinion 17- 002; Confidential Opinion, 17-007; Valentine, Opinion 20-003. The governmental body with which you are deemed to have been associated upon termination of your employment with the City Commerce Department is the City Commerce Department in its entirety. Therefore, for the first year following termination of your employment with the City Commerce Department, Section 1103(g) of the Ethics Act would apply and restrict you from engaging in any activity that would involve , with promised or actual compensation, before the City Commerce Department. Having established the above general principles, you are advised that Section 1103(g) of the Ethics Act would not prohibit you from serving on the Employer Engagement Committee of Steltz, 22-513 March 14, 2022 Page 4 the Philadelphia Works Board subject to the condition that your service on both the Philadelphia Works Board and the Employer Engagement Committee would be without promised or actual compensation. Lastly, the propriety of the proposed conduct has only been addressed under the Ethics Act; the applicability of any other statute, code, ordinance, regulation or other code of conduct other than the Ethics Act has not been considered. Conclusion: This Advice assumes, without deciding, that as a former Chief of Staff for the City Commerce Department, you are a former public employee subject to 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. Your former governmental body is the City Commerce Department in its entirety. For the first year termination of your employment with the City Commerce Department, Section 1103(g) of the Ethics Act would apply and restrict you from engaging in any activity that would involve , with promised or actual compensation, before the City Commerce Department. Section 1103(g) of the Ethics Act would not prohibit you from serving on both the Board of Philadelphia Works and on chaired by an employee of the City Commerce Department, subject to the condition that your service on both the Philadelphia Works Board and the Employer Engagement Committee would be without promised or actual compensation. Pursuant to Section 1107(11) of the Ethics Act, an 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, provided the requester 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 appeal the Advice to the full Commission. A personal appearance before the Commission will be scheduled and a formal Opinion will be issued by the Commission. Any such appeal must be in writing and must be actually received at the Commission within thirty (30) days of the date of this Advice pursuant to 51 Pa. Code § 13.2(h). The appeal may be received at the Commission by hand delivery, United States mail, delivery service, or by FAX transmission (717-787-0806). Failure to file such an appeal at the Commission within thirty (30) days may result in the dismissal of the appeal. Respectfully, Brian D. Jacisin Chief Counsel