CEO 81-46 -- July 16, 1981

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

CITY COMMISSIONER EMPLOYED BY FIRE DISTRICT

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

SUMMARY:

No prohibited conflict of interest would be created were a city commissioner to be employed by a fire control district which furnishes fire department services to the city as well as to other areas of the county within which the city is located. Reference is made to CEO 81-25, in which it was found that the Code of Ethics would not prohibit a city commissioner from being employed by his city's housing authority. Here, the fire district is a taxing district independent of the city.

QUESTION:

Would a prohibited conflict of interest be created were a City Commissioner to be employed by a Fire Control District which furnishes fire department services to the City as well as to other areas of the County within which the City is located?

Your question is answered in the negative.

In your letter of inquiry you advise that .... presently is an elected City Commissioner for the City of Fort Pierce. He questions whether a prohibited conflict of interest would be created were he to be employed as secretary for the St. Lucie County-Fort Pierce Fire Prevention and Control District Board of Commissioners.

The Fire District is a special taxing district which encompasses all of St. Lucie County, pursuant to Chapter 59-1806, Laws of Florida, as amended. The Fire Board is composed of two City Commissioners elected by the City Commission, two County Commissioners elected by the County Commission, and one member appointed by the Governor. The subject City Commissioner, you advise, would not be one of the City Commissioners serving on the Fire District Board. In addition, you advise that the Fire District furnishes fire department services to the City of Fort Pierce, to all other municipalities within the County, and to the unincorporated areas of the County.

In a previous opinion, CEO 81-25, a copy of which is enclosed, we advised that the Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees would not prohibit a city commissioner from being employed by his city's housing authority. In our view, the rationale to that opinion applies equally to the situation you have presented, since the Fire District is a taxing district independent of the City.

Accordingly, we find that no prohibited conflict of interest would be created were the subject City Commissioner to be employed by a Fire Control District which furnishes fire department services to the City as well as to other areas of the County within which the City is located.