CEO 80-80 -- October 30, 1980

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

SPOUSE OF CITY POLLUTION CONTROL ENGINEER SELLING GOODS TO COMPANIES REGULATED BY CITY POLLUTION CONTROL DEPARTMENT

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

Prepared by: Phil Claypool

SUMMARY:

Section 112.313(3), F. S., prohibits a public employee from acting in an official capacity as a purchasing agent to purchase any goods for his agency from a business entity which is owned by his spouse or in which his spouse is an officer, director, or partner. This statute is not violated, however, when the spouse of a city pollution control engineer sells industrial chemicals to companies which are regulated by the city's pollution control department. Neither is s. 112.313(7) violated inasmuch as it is the spouse rather than the employee who holds contractual relationships with entities subject to the regulation of the pollution control department.

QUESTION:

Does a prohibited conflict of interest exist when the spouse of a city pollution control engineer sells industrial chemicals to companies which are regulated by the city's pollution control department?

Your question is answered in the negative.

In your letter of inquiry you advise that you are an air pollution control engineer employed by the City of Jacksonville's local environmental regulatory agency, the Bio-Environmental Services Division of the City Department of Health, Welfare and Bio- Environmental Services. In addition, you advise that your wife sells industrial chemicals to various commercial and industrial accounts as an independent contractor with a large chemical company. You question whether a conflict of interest exists when your wife makes sales to industries which are regulated by the Bio-Environmental Services Division, if you have no active involvement in your wife's business.

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

DOING BUSINESS WITH ONE'S AGENCY. -- No employee of an agency acting in his official capacity as a purchasing agent, or public officer acting in his official capacity, shall either directly or indirectly purchase, rent, or lease any realty, goods, or services for his own agency from any business entity of which he or his spouse or child is an officer, partner, director, or proprietor or in which such officer or employee or his spouse or child, or any combination of them, has a material interest. Nor shall a public officer or employee, acting in a private capacity, rent, lease, or sell any realty, goods, or services to his own agency, if he is a state officer or employee, or to any political subdivision or any agency thereof, if he is serving as an officer or employee of that political subdivision. The foregoing shall not apply to district offices maintained by legislators when such offices are located in the legislator's place of business. This subsection shall not affect or be construed to prohibit contracts entered into prior to:

(a) October 1, 1975.

(b) Qualification for elective office.

(c) Appointment to public office.

(d) Beginning public employment.

[Section 112.313(3), F. S.]

This provision prohibits a public employee from acting in an official capacity as a purchasing agent to purchase any goods for his agency from a business entity which is owned by his spouse or in which his spouse is an officer, director, or partner. However, this provision does not apply to your situation, since your wife is not selling any goods to your public agency.

The Code of Ethics also provides:

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. [Section 112.313(7)(a), F. S.]

This provision prohibits a public employee from having a contractual relationship with a business entity which is subject to the regulation of his agency. Although some of your wife's accounts are subject to the regulation of your agency, it does not appear that you have any contractual relationship with those companies, so long as you have no involvement in your wife's business pursuits.

Accordingly, we find that no prohibited conflict of interest exists under the Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees when your wife sells industrial chemicals to companies which are regulated by the municipal agency which employs you.