| Advisory Opinion Request of Thomas S. Schneidau, Slidell City Attorney, regarding the privatization of the Slidell water and wastewater services and facilities. |
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Adopted in 1978, the City of Slidell ("City") operates under a Home Rule Charter which requires the City to provide a full range of services, including water and wastewater/sewer systems. The City currently provides the services under the Office of Public Utilities and the Office of Wastewater Treatment. The City employs twenty-five people in the Office of Public Utilities and twelve in the Office of Wastewater Treatment.
The City is considering entering into a contractual agreement with respect to the management, operations, and general maintenance of the City's water and wastewater systems and facilities. The contemplated contractual arrangement would involve a ten-year initial term with opportunities for renewal. The private entity would be responsible for providing all necessary personnel to full the contract. To this end, the private entity would agree to hire current employees of the City's office of public utilities and office of wastewater treatment who wished to work for the new entity under the contract. You anticipate that thirty-three of the City's thirty-seven employees in the public utilities and wastewater treatment departments will be offered employment with the private contractor. You stated that none of the City's employees who may agree to work for the private entity participated in the City's decision to hire a private entity to provide water and wastewater systems and facilities. For its part, the City would retain a limited number of employees in the subject service areas to provide managerial oversight of its contractual relationship with the private entity. For a period of no more than three years, the City would hope to retain a limited number of employees who the City would contractually "lease" to the private entities to perform services under the contract on behalf of the private entity. You contemplate that the City's chief operator for wastewater treatment and assistant superintendent over sewer will both remain employed by the City to serve as the public/private project coordinators over the respective services. Additionally, the City's superintendent over public utilities will serve as the public/private project coordinator over water issues. Finally, you anticipate that one administrative assistant will remain employed by the City. These City employees would not conduct day-to-day operations of the City's water and wastewater systems and facilities.
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La. R.S. 42:1102(18) and (19) define "public servant" and "public employee" to include anyone, whether compensated or not, who is engaged in the performance of a governmental function or is under the supervision or authority of an elected official or another employee of the governmental entity.
La. R.S. 42:1121B(1): No former public employee shall, for a period of two years following termination of his public employment, assist another person, for compensation, in a transaction, or in an appearance in connection with a transaction in which such former public employee participated at any time during his public employment and involving the governmental entity by which he was formerly employed, or for a period of two years following termination of his public employment, render, any service which such former public employee had rendered to the agency during the term of his public employment on a contractual basis, regardless of the parties to the contract, to for, or on behalf of the agency with which he was formerly employed.
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Adopt the proposed advisory opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
David Bordelon |
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