CN 1993-225 (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

Ethics Commission Opinion No. 93 -225 Page 17 Provided, however, that the Code of Governmental Ethics shall apply to the purchase of fire trucks by bona fide organized public fire departments. It is the opinion and the conclusion of the Commission that the quoted exception was not designed to allow public employees such as Mr. Dyer to either receive prohibited income or, through a corporation in which he and his spouse own a controlling interest, enter into transactions that are otherwise prohibited. The cited exception to the Code was designed to allow persons who were otherwise public servants to also engage in volunteer fire prevention activities provided they do not receive any "compensation ". By way of illustration, in the absence of an exception a member of the Jefferson Parish Council might be prohibited from being a volunteer fire fighter with the 3rd Fire Protection District as Section 1113 would prohibit that council member from seeking to be engaged as a volunteer fire fighter with units of the parish. The exception was not designed to allow persons who are not public servants except in their capacity as volunteer fire fighters to receive compensation from prohibited sources or to enter into transactions proscribed by cited sections of the Code. Moreover, it is manifest that the exception is inapplicable if for no other reason than that Mr. Dyer did indeed receive "compensation" for the services he performed for FAS and, for that matter, for the services he performed for TDVFD at least to the extent that he received the unrestricted use of an automobile that was insured, maintained and repaired at the expense of TDVFD.