The Commission issued the following advisory opinions:
A.O. 2011-40 to The Honorable Angel Taveras, the Mayor of the City of Providence, who in his mayoral capacity serves as chairman of the Providence Economic Development Partnership (“PEPD”), opining that the proposed recusal procedure set forth by the Petitioner is both reasonable and sufficient to avoid potential conflicts of interest given his personal interest in a particular loan application before the PEDP.
A.O. 2011-41 to Louis A. Cerbo, Ed.D, who has accepted an offer of employment as the Clinical Director (Psychologist) for the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, opining that he is not prohibited by the Code of Ethics from continuing to provide consulting services, in his private capacity, to another state agency as an independent contractor, provided that all such work is performed on his own time and without the use of public resources or confidential information obtained as part of his public employment.
The advisory opinion request of Kristen Catanzaro, a North Providence Town Council member, was postponed to allow the Petitioner to submit a more detailed written request.
The Commission made an Initial Determination in the matter In re: Frank Sylvester, Complaint No. 2011-2, and authorized a full investigation.