HomeMy WebLinkAbout3rd Qtr 2008
INDEX
State Ethics Commission
Quarterly Rulings for Third Quarter 2008
ADVICES (Ethicsl:
08-561 :
08-562:
08-563: (Lamond):
08-564 (Bender):
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 for Commonwealth Office B with regard to: (1)
engaging in conversations about future employment
opportunities with C and D firms or the C department
of a major corporation; or (2) performing the duties of
her public position if such aforesaid conversations
would take place.
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
Member of Governmental Body B for Political
Subdivision C with regard to participating in matters
before Governmental Body B involving Institution D,
where the Member's daughter is an E at Institution D
and is employed by Institution D on an irregular and
periodic basis.
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 with regard to participating in
matters involving a proposed development, when: (1)
the Township Supervisor is a party to ongoing
litigation involving the flooding of his home; (2) the
Township Supervisor states that he and others
initiated the litigation as a result of finding
"inconsistencies" with a prior development that was
built in 1998 and 1999; and (3) the Township
Supervisor states that information from the discovery
stage of the litigation indicates that the engineer
working on the proposed development might have
been responsible for alleged mistakes made on the
storm management system relating to the prior
development.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
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08-565 (Feese):
08-566 (Unruh):
08-567 (Lewis):
08-568 (McKenna):
would impose any restrictions upon an individual
employed as an interim manager for a township
following termination of employment with said
township.
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
Member of the Pennsylvania House of
Representatives in her capacity as a public official if,
in her private capacity, she would enter into a contract
to provide part-time consulting services to a county
until such time as the Member would begin full-time
employment with said county upon the expiration of
her current term of office.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any prohibition or restrictions upon a
school director with regard to participating in contract
negotiations with the bargaining unit for the school
district's teachers where: (1) any collective bargaining
agreement reached with the teachers' bargaining unit
would serve as the framework for the benefit package
negotiated with the other school district employee
bargaining units; (2) if the school board would settle
with the teachers' bargaining unit on an overall
economic package resulting in a specific percentage
increase for wages and benefits, the school board
would seek to settle with the other bargaining units for
an overall economic package increase of the same
percentage; (3) the school director's spouse is
employed by the school district as a secretary; and (4)
the school director's spouse is not a member of the
bargaining unit for the school district secretaries but
would receive the wages and benefits negotiated by
the school district secretaries' bargaining unit.
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
assistant director of a career and technology center
(area vocational-technical school) with regard to
simultaneously serving as a school director in one of
the participating school districts.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
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would present any prohibitions or restrictions upon an
individual who serves both as a borough council
member and as a member of the borough's planning
commission with regard to matters before the borough
councilor borough planning commission pertaining to:
(1) property(ies) proposed to be purchased by the
individual, the individual's father, or a family
partnership that would include such individual and
various immediate family members; or (2) other
properties adjacent to or in proximity to the subject
property(ies ).
08-569:
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
individual serving as the A for a Township if such
individual, in his private capacity, would start a
business relating to the determination of the B of Cs
but would not accept employment opportunities from
any location within the Township while serving in his
current Township position.
08-570:
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 the
former A with regard to serving on an advisory board
within Commonwealth Department B.
08-571 (Wido):
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's spouse with regard to
serving as: (1) chairperson of the borough's vacancy
board; or (2) an alternate for the borough's "UCC
hearing board."
08-572 (Moore):
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 mayor's spouse with regard to serving as an
alternate for the borough's zoning hearing board.
08-573 (Noss):
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's brother with regard to
serving as a member of the borough's "UCC hearing
board."
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08-574 (Topper):
08-575:
08-576 (McClintick):
08-577 (Gamble):
08-578 (Wentz):
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would impose any restrictions upon employment of a
Deputy Secretary for Procurement following
termination of service with the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania Department of General Services
("DGS").
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
individual serving as an elected county A with regard
to contracting to perform services for a [type of firm] in
his private capacity, where: (1) the services would
involve soliciting business from and marketing [type of
services] to [types of clients]; and (2) said individual's
employment contract with such firm would expressly
exclude him and the firm from doing business with the
county and its governmental bodies for as long as
said individual would serve the county as a public
official/public employee subject to the Ethics Act.
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 her private capacity, is
employed as a legal secretary with the law office of
the attorney who serves as the township solicitor.
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
Member of the Pennsylvania Board of Claims ("Board
of Claims") with regard to participating in matters
before the Board of Claims involving the Pennsylvania
Department of Transportation ("PennDOT") or the
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission ("Turnpike
Commission"), where such Member in his private
capacity is employed by an engineering consulting
firm that performs highway transportation design and
planning services for Penn DOT and the Turnpike
Commission.
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would impose any restrictions upon employment of a
Senior Civil Engineer Supervisor - Transportation
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08-579 (Webster):
OPINIONS (Ethics).;.
08-004 (Desmond):
08-005 (Corey):
OPINIONS (LobbvinQ).;.
08-1002:
following termination of service with the Pennsylvania
Department of Transportation ("PennDOT").
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would impose any restrictions upon employment of a
Senior Civil Engineer Supervisor - Transportation
following termination of service with the Pennsylvania
Department of Transportation ("PennDOT").
Re: Whether the Public Official and Employee
Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101 et seq.,
would present any restrictions upon the Deputy
Secretary of the Office of Energy and Technology
Deployment within the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection with regard to engaging in
business dealings with a technology company
following retirement from Commonwealth
employment, where said technology company
received a grant from a public financing agency for
which staff members of the Office of Energy and
Technology Deployment serve as administrators and
review and make recommendations on grants.
Re: Whether, pursuant to the Public Official and
Employee Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101
et seq., a Member of the Pennsylvania House of
Representatives would be required to disclose, as
gifts on his Statement(s) of Financial Interests,
contributions to or disbursements from a trust for
which the Member's minor child would be the named
beneficiary, where such contributions/disbursements
would assist with medical and incidental expenses,
including expenses for mileage, food and lodging for
family members to be present for treatments at distant
medical facilities, and if so:
Re: Whether, pursuant to Pennsylvania's lobbying
disclosure law ("Lobbying Disclosure Law"), 65
PaC.S. S 13A01 et seq., Corporation A, a registered
principal, may separately allocate its expenses from
those of other registered principals that are its
affiliates in determining whether the reporting
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ORDERS (Ethicsl:
1467 (Vickery):
1467-R (Vickery):
1468 (Arrow):
1469 (Complainant A):
1470 (Reuvenny):
1471 (Kermes):
thresholds for "gifts" and for "transportation and
lodging or hospitality received in connection with
public office or employment" have been met for
purposes of the reporting requirements of Section
13A05(b)(3)(i) of the Lobbying Disclosure Law, 65
Pa C. S. S 13A05(b )(3)(i).
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
Re: The State Ethics Commission received a
request for reconsideration on June 16, 2008, with
respect to Order No. 1467 issued on May 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: The Investigative Division of the State Ethics
Commission conducted an investigation regarding a
possible wrongful use of the Public Official and
Employee Ethics Act ("Ethics Act"), 65 PaC.S. S 1101
et seq., by the above-named "Complainant." Written
notice of the specific allegations was served at the
commencement of the investigation. Upon
completion of the investigation, the Investigative
Division issued and served upon Complainant a
Findings Report identified as an "Investigative
Complaint," which constituted the Investigation
Division's Complaint against the Complainant. A
formal Answer was not filed. The Commission
received and entered in the record of this case a letter
dated June 9, 2008, from the Complainant, which
included a general denial of the allegations. The
record is complete.
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
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1472 (Hilinski):
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
1473 (Gretton):
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
1474 (Holman):
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
1475 (Ferguson):
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
1476 (Ford):
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
1477 (Tapper):
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
1478 (Botel):
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
1479 (Weiss):
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
1480 (Hahn):
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
1481 (Mendez):
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
1482 (Sotta):
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
1483 (Martin):
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
1484 (Neff):
Re: This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics
Commission.
345-S (Lyle):
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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