HomeMy WebLinkAbout2nd Qtr 2008
INDEX
State Ethics Commission
Quarterly Rulings for Second Quarter 2008
ADVICES (Ethicsl:
08-531 :
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any prohibitions or restrictions upon an
A of a [political subdivision] [governmental body], who
is an intervenor in litigation pertaining to a G dispute
between the [political subdivision] and a business
located in the [political subdivision], with regard to: (1)
being present in [governmental body] executive
sessions where matters pertaining to such litigation
would be discussed; or (2) publicly discussing
issue(s) pertaining to a Consent Order in the litigation
or the cost of the litigation to the taxpayers.
08-532 (Brazil, Jr.):
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any prohibitions or restrictions upon a
borough council member with regard to voting on the
borough payroll, where: (1) the payroll would include
the compensation paid to the borough council
member's mother as borough administrator; (2) such
compensation would have previously been set by
borough council without the borough council
member's involvement; (3) such compensation would
not include overtime pay; and (4) such compensation
would be the same every pay period.
08-533:
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any prohibitions or restrictions upon an
A of a [political subdivision] [governmental body], who
in her private capacity is an attorney with her own
practice, with regard to voting on the extension of a
contract between the [political subdivision] and a [type
of business] for the provision of [type of services],
where: (1) the A was named to the [type of list] of the
[type of business] while the A was employed with
another law firm from [year] to [year]; (2) the A
represented the [type of business] in matters while the
A was employed with the law firm; (3) the A has not
represented the [type of business] since leaving the
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08-534 (Brautigam):
08-535:
08-536 (Kelly, Sr.):
08-537 (Yeager):
law firm in [year]; and (4) the A does not know
whether she remains on the [type of list] for the [type
of business].
Whether the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act
("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq., would
present any prohibitions or restrictions upon
employment of the Director of the Bureau of
Educational Technology within the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania Department of Education, Office of
Information and Educational Technology, following
termination of service with the Commonwealth.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any prohibitions or restrictions upon the
A with Commonwealth Department B (hereinafter "the
Department") with regard to participating in the
Department's review and action on applications for
the H of I of two [type of companies], where the
spouse of the A is employed with a company owned
by a subsidiary of one of the aforesaid [type of
companies].
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 Pa C. S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any prohibitions or restrictions upon a
borough council member with regard to voting to
appoint his girlfriend to the position of borough
secretary/treasurer.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would impose any prohibitions or restrictions upon a
township supervisor with regard to participating in
votes, negotiations, or executive session discussions
of the township board of supervisors as to matters
pertaining to a dispute between the township and a
company that engages in oil and gas well drilling
operations, where: (1) the dispute pertains to
whether, pursuant to state law, the company would be
permitted to drill oil and gas wells and extract oil and
gas in locations outside of the only two township
zoning districts where the township's zoning
ordinance would permit such operations; (2) the
township supervisor holds an oil and gas lease on
property located outside of the two zoning districts in
which the township zoning ordinance would permit oil
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08-538 (O'Connor):
08-539 (Walkowiak):
08-540 (Schmidt, Jr.):
08-541 (Spare):
and gas well drilling operations; and (3) the township
supervisor would receive a pecuniary benefit if oil and
gas well drilling and extraction would be carried out
on his property or if oil and gas would be extracted
from his property as a result of drilling on a nearby
property.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any prohibitions or restrictions upon a
school director with regard to voting on the issue of
whether to close a particular middle school in the
school district, where: (1) the school director's
daughter serves as a long-term substitute teacher at
one of the school district's three other middle schools;
and (2) the school director's daughter is in a pool of
teachers who are eligible to fill the next vacant school
district position that requires a certain teaching
certification.
Re: Whether, in your former capacity as a "Co-op"
Student Employee with the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
("PennDOT"), you would be considered a "public
employee" subject to the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
and the Regulations of the State Ethics Commission,
such that the restrictions of Section 1103(g) of the
Ethics Act would now be applicable to you.
Re: Whether, as an elected Auditor for Monroe
Township ("Township"), located in Cumberland
County, Pennsylvania, you would be considered a
"public official" subject to the Public Official and
Employee Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 Pa C. S. S 1101
et seq., and the Regulations of the Pennsylvania
State Ethics Commission, and particularly, the
requirements for filing Statements of Financial
Interests.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any prohibitions or restrictions upon a
school director, whose immediate family member is
employed as one of the school district's non-
unionized support staff members, with regard to the
negotiation and approval of a compensation/benefit
agreement between the school district and support
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08-542 (Trzcianka):
08-543 (Stephens):
08-544 (Nanovic):
08-545 (Nanovic):
staff, specifically with regard to: (1) attending a school
board executive session to be informed as to the
status of negotiations pertaining to such
compensation/benefit agreement; (2) providing an
opinion to school district administrators as to how
such negotiations should be handled; (3) engaging in
general discussions with school district administrators
regarding their opinions as to making improvements
or adjustments to the overall wage structure for
support staff; or (4) receiving a copy of the final
proposed compensation/benefit agreement prior to
the vote to approve or disapprove it.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any prohibitions or restrictions upon a
borough council member, who simultaneously serves
as a member of a municipal authority board and as
the fire chief of a volunteer fire department, with
regard to receiving compensation for his service in
any of the aforesaid capacities.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any restrictions upon employment of
the Deputy Chief of Staff in the Governor's Office
following termination of service with the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any prohibitions or restrictions upon a
township supervisor, whose son-in-law owns five
percent (5%) of the shares of a corporation, with
regard to: (1) voting to award to the aforesaid
corporation a contract for the supply of materials or a
contract for the supply of equipment and labor to
repair and maintain the township's roads; or (2)
serving as the township road master or assistant
road master if the township would award such
contract(s) to the aforesaid corporation.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any prohibitions or restrictions upon a
township supervisor, whose son is employed by a
corporation, with regard to voting to award a township
contract to the aforesaid corporation.
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08-546 (Carey):
08-547 (Zimmerlink):
08-548 (Rismiller):
08-549 (Rowan):
08-550 (Hough):
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any prohibitions or restrictions upon a
township supervisor, who in his private capacity
leases a property to a joint police commission that
governs a regional police department formed by the
township and two other municipalities pursuant to an
agreement for joint police services, with regard to: (1)
participating in the formal negotiations and vote on
the approval of a new labor contract between said
joint police commission and the regional police
association; or (2) participating in and voting on the
potential termination or renegotiation of the aforesaid
agreement for joint police services.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any prohibitions or restrictions upon a
county commissioner with regard to serving on the
board of directors of a non-profit organization that
provides support to victims/survivors of domestic
violence
Re: Whether, in the former capacity as an
Educational Statistics Supervisor with the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of
Education ("Department of Education"), Ms. Kern
would be considered a "public employee" subject to
the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act ("Ethics
Act"), 65 Pa C. S. S 1101 et seq., and the Regulations
of the State Ethics Commission, such that upon
leaving Commonwealth employment, Ms. Kern would
be subject to the restrictions of Section 11 03(g) of the
Ethics Act pertaining to former public officials/public
employees.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would impose any prohibitions or restrictions upon a
borough council member with regard to
simultaneously serving as the borough code
enforcement officer and receiving compensation for
serving as the borough code enforcement officer.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would impose any prohibitions or restrictions upon an
elected township auditor, who, in a private capacity,
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08-551 (Johnson):
08-552 (Cleary):
owns a firm that provides to municipalities consulting
services on recycling issues, with regard to resigning
from his auditor position with the township to provide
consulting services to a joint recycling consortium to
be formed by the township and another municipality.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would impose any prohibitions or restrictions upon a
township supervisor, who in a private capacity, is
engaged in a variety of excavating and earthmoving
related businesses within the township, with regard to
entering into an agreement to provide a contractor
with sandstone and a clean fill dump site for a
replacement project for a township bridge, where: (1)
the township entered into a project agreement with
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation ("PennDOT") for the replacement of
the township bridge; (2) the township did not regulate
or participate in the bidding process of the bridge
replacement contract and instead, all matters
associated with the bidding and award of such
contract were handled through Penn DOT; (3) in
December 2007, PennDOT awarded the bridge
replacement contract to the aforesaid contractor; and
(4) the township supervisor did not participate in the
project's design, the bidding process, or the award of
the bridge replacement contract to the aforesaid
contractor.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any prohibitions or restrictions upon a
township commissioner with regard to participating in
the hearings and vote on a real estate developer's
application for conditional use approval to develop a
residential development in the township, where: (1)
the township commissioner owns and resides at a
single family dwelling located on the street that runs
parallel to the roughly southeastern boundary of the
proposed development; (2) the township
commissioner's dwelling adjoins an area designated
as open space on the master development plan for
the proposed development; (3) the township
commissioner's lot is of the same dimensions as
thirty-one of the thirty-three lots fronting on the same
street and directly adjoining the proposed
development; and (4) the township commissioner's
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08-553 (Biemiller):
08-554 (McGlynn):
08-555 (Williams):
08-556 (Fernsler):
08-557 (Grass):
dwelling is comparable to the other single family
dwellings located on the same street.
Re: Whether Michael W. Davis, Esq. ("Mr. Davis"),
in his capacity as a Member of the Board of Directors
of EDC Finance Corporation, located in Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania, would be considered a "public
employee" or "public official" subject to the
requirements for filing Statements of Financial
Interests pursuant to the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.
Re: Whether as a member of a township planning
commission, you would be considered a "public
official" subject to the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
and the Regulations of the State Ethics Commission,
and specifically Section 1103(a) of the Ethics Act
pertaining to conflicts of interest.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any prohibitions or restrictions upon a
borough council member with regard to performing
the duties of his public office as a borough council
member, where: (1) the borough council member is
employed as a building inspector with a "third party
agency" that performs building inspections; and (2)
the borough building code official requires that
commercial electrical inspections be performed by a
"third party agency."
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any restrictions upon employment of a
Local Government Policy Manager following
termination of service with the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania Department of Community and
Economic Development, Governor's Center for Local
Government Services.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any restrictions upon employment of a
Local Government Policy Specialist following
termination of service with the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania Department of Community and
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08-558:
08-559 (Kerstetter):
08-560 (Rabuck):
OPINIONS (Ethics).;.
08-1001 :
ORDERS (Ethicsl:
1455- (Graeff):
Economic Development, Governor's Center for Local
Government Services.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any prohibitions or restrictions upon
you as a County A ("County") Council Member with
regard to participating in matters before County
Council pertaining to a bond issue for a project
undertaken by the B Authority, where a firm for which
you are a contracted consultant might bid on the
construction proposal for the project.
Re: Whether members of a township planning
commission that has the authority to approve or
disapprove preliminary subdivision and land
development plans would be considered "public
employees" or "public officials" subject to the Public
Official and Employee Ethics Act (the "Ethics Act"), 65
PaC.S. S 1101 et seq., and the Regulations of the
State Ethics Commission, and particularly, the
requirements for filing Statements of Financial
Interests.
Re: Whether as a District Office Manager for a
Member of the Pennsylvania House of
Representatives, you would be considered a "public
employee" subject to the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
and the Regulations of the State Ethics Commission,
such that upon leaving Commonwealth employment,
you would be subject to the restrictions of Section
1103(g) of the Ethics Act pertaining to former public
officials/public employees.
Re: Whether, pursuant to Pennsylvania's lobbying
disclosure law ("Lobbying Disclosure Law"), 65
PaC.S. S 1301-A/13A01 etseq., a registered lobbyist
may use a "success fee" for lobbying engagements
related to procurement.
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
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1455-R (Graeff):
1460 (Gerhard):
1461 (Gold):
1462 (Klitsch):
1463 (Bornstein):
1464 (Kohn):
1465 (Brown):
1466 (Pagan):
344-S (Castellino):
Re: The State Ethics Commission received a
request for reconsideration on March 3, 2008, with
respect to Order No. 1455 issued on February 15,
2008. Pursuant to Section 21.29 of the Regulations
of the Commission, the discretion of the State Ethics
Commission to grant reconsideration is properly
invoked as follows:
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
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. S 1101 et seq.
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