CEO 78-21 -- April 20, 1978

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

MUNICIPAL OFFICER WRITING LETTERS TO EDITOR FOR PUBLICATION IN LOCAL NEWSPAPERS

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

Prepared by: Phil Claypool

SUMMARY:

No provision of the Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees prohibits an elected municipal official from writing letters to the editor for publication in local newspapers.

QUESTION:

Does the Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees prohibit an elected municipal official from writing letters to the editor for publication in local newspapers?

In your letter of inquiry you advise that you have been elected to the Charter Board of the City of ____ and that for several years you have been writing letters to the editor for publication in local newspapers. You are inquiring as to whether, now that you are an elected municipal official, you may continue writing such letters signed only by your name without mention of your position on the charter board.

We have examined the provisions of the Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees, and we find no provision which would prohibit you from continuing to write letters to the editor for publication in local newspapers. Accordingly, your question is answered in the negative.