2014-1278 - Laserfiche WebLink

Ethics Board Docket No. 2014-1278 Page 6 of 10 (ii) Appointed by any elected official when acting in an official capacity, and the appointment is to a post or position wherein the appointee is to serve the governmental entity or an agency thereof, either as a member of an agency, or as an employee thereof. (iii) Engaged in the performance of a governmental function. (iv)Under the supervision or authority of an elected official or another employee of the governmental entity. (19) 'Public servant" means a public employee or an elected official. (21) "Substantial economic interest" means an economic interest which is of greater benefit to the public servant or other person than to a general class or group of persons; V. BOE'S OPINION It is the opinion of the BOE that Respondents were public servants pursuant to the provisions of the Contract and that their agency was the scope of the Contract. It is further the opinion of the BOE that Respondents violated La. R.S. 42:1113(A)(1)(a) by entering into the ten subsequent contracts with St. John the Baptist Parish to perform engineering services, which were under the supervision or jurisdiction of the original Contract. Additionally, it is the opinion of the BOE that Respondents violated La. R.S. 42:1112A by participating through the Contract on the ten additional engineering projects. VI. RESPONDENTS' STATEMENT A two-day evidentiary hearing before the 19`x' Judicial District Court determined that the BOE had exceeded its power and labeled the Respondents — a family business that has been operating for decades — as "public servants" of the local government entities they had been contracting with since 1977. Respondent believes this action was an improper attempt to reclassify a private business as a public employee for ethics purposes. Settling this matter is not an admission