CEO 76-13 -- January 16, 1976

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

CITY COUNCILMAN APPEARING BEFORE PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD

To: (Name withheld at the person's request.)

Prepared by: Gene Rhodes

SUMMARY:

No provision of the Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees would prohibit a city councilman from appearing before the city planning and zoning board to seek rezoning or variances. Where such appearances are made on behalf of a client for a fee or commission, however, they are required to be disclosed via the filing of CE Form 2, the Quarterly Statement of Disclosure of Clients Represented Before Agencies. See Fla. Stat. s. 112.3145(4)(1975).

Neither does a prohibited conflict exist where a city councilman is a general contractor and therefore regulated by the city contractors' licensing board. Florida Statute s. 112.313(7) provides that no public officer may hold private employment with a business entity subject to the regulation of his own agency. However, the term "agency" is defined by s. 112.312(2) to include a municipality and any department thereof. Thus, the subject councilman is regulated by the contractors' licensing board, an agency distinct from the city council.

QUESTIONS:

1. Does a prohibited conflict of interest exist where a city councilman appears before the city planning and zoning board seeking rezoning or variances?

2. Does a prohibited conflict of interest exist where a city councilman is a general contractor and thus regulated by the contractors' licensing board?

Question 1 is answered in the negative.

Your letter of inquiry advises us that the subject city councilman is a realtor who occasionally appears before the city planning and zoning board seeking rezoning or variances. The city council appoints the members of the planning and zoning board.

The above-described situation does not present a prohibited conflict of interest under the Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees. Please note, however, that when the councilman appears before the planning and zoning board on behalf of a client for a fee or commission, he must file CE Form 2, Quarterly Statement of Disclosure of Clients Represented Before Agencies. See Fla. Stat. s. 112.3145(4)(1975).

Question 2 is answered in the negative.

Your letter of inquiry advises us that general contractors are regulated by the contractors' licensing board and that the board members are appointed by the city council.

The Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees states in relevant part:

CONFLICTING EMPLOYMENT OR CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIP. -- No public officer or employee of an agency shall have or hold any employment or contractual relationship with any business entity or any agency which is subject to the regulation of, or doing business with an agency of which he is an officer or employee excluding those organizations and their officers who enter into or negotiate a collective bargaining contract with any state, county, municipal, or other political subdivision of the state when acting in their official capacity; nor shall an officer or employee of an agency have or hold any employment or contractual relationship that will create a continuing or frequently recurring conflict between his private interests and the performance of his public duties or that would impede the full and faithful discharge of his public duties. . . . [Fla. Stat. s. 112.313(7)(1975).]

The code further defines the term "agency" to include a city and any department thereof. See Fla. Stat. s. 112.312(1). This being the case, the subject councilman is privately regulated in his contracting occupation by the contractors' licensing board as opposed to the city council, a separate agency for purposes of s. 112.313(7). Therefore, the situation you describe does not present a prohibited conflict of interest.