CEO 76-199 -- November 18, 1976

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

CITY COUNCILMAN SERVING AS PHARMACIST FOR CITY HOSPITAL

To: Jack Trezona, Vice Mayor, Homestead

Prepared by: Roger Merriam

SUMMARY:

A public officer or employee is prohibited from holding any employment or contractual relationship with any business entity or any agency which is subject to the regulation of his agency. Florida Statute s. 112.313(7)(a)(1975). As the term "agency" is defined to include a municipal division or department [see s. 112.312(2)], a member of a city council thus is prohibited from having a contractual relationship with a municipal department subject to the regulation of the city council. However, where a city council's sole responsibility with respect to the city hospital is the appointment of trustees, no conflict is deemed to exist where a city councilman simultaneously serves as consulting pharmacist to the city hospital. Reference is made to CEO 76-112 in which it was found that the appointment of hospital trustees by a city council does not constitute regulation in the sense contemplated by s. 112.313(7)(a).

QUESTION:

Does a prohibited conflict of interest exist where I, a city councilman, serve as consulting pharmacist to the city hospital?

Your question is answered in the negative.

You state in your letter of inquiry that you were elected to the city council in December of 1975 and that for the past 10 years you have served on a contractual basis as consulting pharmacist for the city hospital. You further advise that the city hospital is governed by a board of directors appointed by the city council and that the hospital's annual budget is approved by the city council by ordinance. The city attorney has informed our staff that members of the hospital's board of directors are appointed by motion of the city council, and that they can be removed only for cause pursuant to special procedures.

The Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees provides in relevant part as follows:

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 is doing business with, an agency of which he is an officer or employee . . . ; 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)(a)(1975); emphasis supplied.]

The emphasized portion quoted above clearly prohibits a public officer from having a contractual relationship with an agency regulated by his public agency. As the term "agency" is defined to include a municipal division or department [see s. 112.312(2)], a member of a city council is prohibited by the above-quoted statute from having a contractual relationship with a municipal department subject to the regulation of the city council. However, in a previous opinion of this commission, CEO 76-112, we found that the appointment of hospital trustees by a city council does not constitute regulation in the sense contemplated by s. 112.313(7)(a).

Accordingly, no conflict of interest is deemed to exist where you, as city councilman, simultaneously serve as consulting pharmacist to the city hospital.