CEO 86-15 -- February 20, 1986

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

CITY PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT SUPERVISOR SERVING ON CITY BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT

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

SUMMARY:

No prohibited conflict of interest exists where a city board of adjustment member also is employed as a maintenance supervisor by the city public works department. Section 112.313(10)(a), Florida Statutes, would prohibit an appointed city board of adjustment member from also being an employee of the board of adjustment, but would not prohibit employment with the public works department. Nor would Section 112.313(7)(a), Florida Statutes, prohibit the employment, because the public works department is not doing business with or subject to the regulation of the board of adjustment, and no continuing or frequently recurring conflict of interest would be created.

QUESTION:

Does a prohibited conflict of interest exist where you, a city board of adjustment member, also are employed by the city public works department?

Your question is answered in the negative.

In your letter of inquiry and in a telephone conversation with our staff, you have advised that you have been an appointed member of the City of Sunrise Board of Adjustment for about three years and that recently you were hired as a Maintenance Supervisor for the City of Sunrise Public Works Department.

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

EMPLOYEES HOLDING OFFICE. -- No employee of a state agency or of a county, municipality, special taxing district, or other political subdivision of the state shall hold office as a member of the governing board, council, commission, or authority, by whatever name known, which is his employer while, at the same time, continuing as an employee of such employer. [Section 112.313(10)(a), Florida Statutes (1985).]

This provision would prohibit you, as a City Board of Adjustment member, from also being employed by the City Board of Adjustment. However, since you are employed by the City Public Works Department, Section 112.313(10)(a) would not prohibit your current employment.

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), Florida Statutes (1985).]

The first portion of this section would prohibit a member of the Board of Adjustment from having any employment with an agency which is doing business with or is subject to the regulation of the Board of Adjustment. However, nothing in the circumstances you have presented indicates that the Public Works Department is doing business with or is regulated by the Board of Adjustment.

The second portion of that section prohibits you from holding any employment which will create a continuing or frequently recurring conflict of interest or would impede the full and faithful discharge of your public duties. In a telephone conversation with our staff, you advised that the Board of Adjustment handles all special exceptions and variances and that your duties as a maintenance supervisor relate to beautification projects such as planting trees, shrubs, and sod. Therefore, it does not appear that there would be any conflict of interest between your duties as a Board of Adjustment member and your employment with the Public Works Department.

Accordingly, we find that no prohibited conflict of interest exists where you serve as a Board of Adjustment member and also as an employee of the Public Works Department.