| Reconsideration of BD opinion 2016-913 prohibiting Melynie Wright from serving on the St. John the Baptist Library's Board of Control while she is employed at the A Storage Inn. |
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BD Opinion 2016-913 was requested by Trina Smith, the Director of the St. John the Baptist Library System, regarding whether the Code of Governmental Ethics would prohibit Melynie Wright from serving on the St. John the Baptist Library's Board of Control while she is employed at the A Storage Inn. Ms. Smith provided that Ms. Wright was recently appointed to serve as a member of the St. John the Baptist Library's Control Board. Ms. Wright is employed by A Storage Inn. A Storage Inn has a contract with the St. John the Baptist Library for the rental of storage units.
BD Opinion 2016-913 provided that La. R.S. 421111C(2)(d) would prohibit Melynie Wright from receiving compensation for her employment from A Storage Inn while serving on the St. John the Baptist Library's Board of Control. La. R.S. 42:1111C(2)(d) prohibits a public servant from receiving a thing of economic value for services rendered to persons who have or are seeking to have a contractual, business or financial relationship with the public servant's agency. A Storage Inn has a financial agreement with the St. John the Baptist Library; therefore, Ms. Wright may not accept any compensation from A Storage Inn while serving on the St. John the Baptist Library's Board of Control.
Ms. Wright has requested reconsideration based on the exception to potential violations of La. R.S. 42:1111C(2)(d) in BD Opinion 82-02D. BD Opinion 82-02D provides a limited exception for elected officials and public servants but has not been extended to appointed board members. BD 82-02D allows an elected official to continue his employment that would typically be prohibited by La. R.S. 42: 1111C(2)(d) if she meets the following criteria: 1) the employee must be a salaried or wage earning employee; 2) the employee's salary must remain substantially unaffected by the contractual relationship; 3) the public servant must own less than a "controlling interest" (i.e. less than twenty five percent) in the company; and 4) the public servant must be neither an officer, director, trustee, nor partner of the company.
Ms. Wright has provided facts that proves she meets each one of these elements and has argued that she should be allowed to continue her employment with A Storage Inn and serve on the St. John the Baptist Library's Board of Control. Ms. Wright was informed of this exception by Mr. Kurt Becnel, an elected official of St. John the Baptist Parish for whom the exception found in BD Opinion 82-02D was recently applied to in BD Opinion 2016-849. Ms. Wright has stated that she would like to serve her community and implores the Board to expand the exception in BD Opinion 82-02D.
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La. R.S. 42:1111C(2)(d) prohibits a public servant from receiving a thing of economic value for services rendered to persons who have or are seeking to have a contractual, business or financial relationship with the public servants agency.
BD 82-02D allows for an elected official to continue his employment that would typically be prohibited by La. R.S. 42:1111C(2)(d) if she meets the following criteria: 1) the employee must be a salaried or wage earning employee; 2) the employee's salary must remain substantially unaffected by the contractual relationship; 3) the public servant must own less than a "controlling interest" (i.e. less than twenty five percent) in the company; and 4) the public servant must be neither an officer, director, trustee, nor partner of the company.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Suzanne Mooney |
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