| Advisory opinion request concerning post-employment restrictions that apply to Gary O'Neal following the termination of his employment with the Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness. |
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Gary O'Neal terminated his employment with the Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) on August 16, 2018. During his employment with GOHSEP, he worked as a State Applicant Liaison providing technical assistance during application development and during the project's period of performance to parishes and consultants regarding Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) programs administered by GOHSEP on behalf of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
In his role at GOHSEP, Mr. O'Neal provided technical assistance to local communities based on existing, publicly available and distributed guidelines issued by FEMA regarding HMA projects. Parishes identified these projects using their own, locally generated Hazard Mitigation Plan documents without his assistance as an employee of GOHSEP. At no time did Mr. O'Neal work on local Hazard Mitigation Plans or have any power or authority over them. The projects were identified and approved by FEMA without any involvement by GOHSEP. The funding for HMA projects was set by Congressional appropriation or by existing calculations by FEMA and state executive-level staffing conducted. At no time did Mr. O'Neal have decision-making authority or input regarding the amount FEMA allocated, obligated or awarded to these local communities, as this was strictly determined by FEMA and executive-level state officials.
Mr. O'Neal was offered a position as a Project Management Consultant with Quality Engineering & Surveying, LLC (QES). QES does not have contracts with GOHSEP, but it does have contracts with state and local governmental entities involving HMA projects. Mr. O'Neal's duties at QES would consist of performing grant management (GM) and project management (PM) functions for Hazard Mitigation Assistance programs on behalf of parish and local governmental entities pursuant to a contract that QES has with these entities. The GM duties would consist of establishing and maintaining project budgets, coordinating requests for disbursement and reimbursement, and assisting with project close-outs after completion. The PM duties would include: (1) coordinating HMA projects between GOHSEP, the client/ engineer/ architect/ homeowners/ and stakeholders; (2) responding to Requests for Information issued by GOHSEP from FEMA; (3) coordinating project schedules, contracts and amendments with appropriate parties; and (4) providing reporting and monitoring functions.
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Section 1121B of the Ethics Code prohibits a former public employee, for a period of two years following the termination of his public employment, from assisting another person, for compensation, in a transaction involving the agency of the former public employee, in which the public employee participated at any time during his public employment. Additionally, Section 1121B prohibits a former public employee, for a period of two years following the termination of his public employment, from rendering the same service which he rendered during his public employment on a contractual basis to, for, or on behalf of his former agency.
La. R.S. 42:1102(16) defines "person" to mean an individual or legal entity other than a governmental entity, or an agency thereof.
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Adopt the proposed advisory opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Jennifer Land |
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