| Advisory opinion request from Alison Saunders, a former employee of the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development, involving post-employment restrictions. |
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Alison Saunders was employed as an Architectural Historian Manager in the Division of Historic Preservation for the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development from March 2007 to October 2022. She reported directly to the Executive Director of the Division of Historic Preservation who was also designated as the Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer.
As an Architectural Historian Manager, her work consisted of evaluating select applications for conformity with requirements for Federal and State historic tax credit programs and providing a disposition recommendation on those select applications to the State Historic Preservation Officer or the Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer; participating in select consultations to determine eligibility of sites, structures, buildings, and landscapes for the National Register of Historic Places, which is the first step of eligibility for the Federal historic tax credit program; consulting with the National Park Service on select projects to determine eligibility for the Federal historic rehabilitation tax credit; consulting on select Section 106 projects that are required to be evaluated by Federal agencies for potential impact to historic properties; working with the Louisiana Department of Revenue to facilitate the timely auditing and issuance of State historic tax credits for select projects; and consulting with potential program applicants throughout the State. Ms. Saunders resigned from her position of employment as an Architectural Historian Manager with the Division of Historic Preservation on October 28, 2022.
Ms. Saunders is now employed by Ryan, LLC, a global tax consulting firm, as an Architectural Historian Manager of the Midwest historic tax credit team. In this role, Ms. Saunders directs a team of historic preservation professionals who provide consulting services to building owners interested in applying for Nation Register of Historic Places listings, Federal and State historic tax credits, and other property tax incentives for Hawaii, California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan.
Ryan, LLC has an active Gulf Coast presence and has a historic tax credit team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ms. Saunders has been asked by Ryan, LLC to start working on historic preservation projects in Louisiana, which would include making determinations of eligibility for a variety of federally owned buildings, as a direct contractor for the General Services Administration ("GSA") or a subcontractor for businesses that are contracted with GSA; consultations and application preparations for Federal and State historic tax credit applications; drafting National Register of Historic Preservation documents; consultations and application preparations for tax abatement for historic buildings via Louisiana Economic Development; and technical consultations of best preservation practices. These services would also potentially involve Ms. Saunders interacting with her former employer, the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development.
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La. R.S. 42:1121B(1) provides that no former public employee shall, for a period of two years following the 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.
La. R.S. 42:1121C provides that no legal entity in which a former public servant is an officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee shall, for a period of two years following the termination of his public service, assist another person, for compensation, in a transaction, or in an appearance in connection with a transaction in which such public servant at any time participated during his public service and involving the agency by which he was formerly employed or in which he formerly held office.
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Adopt the proposed advisory opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Jessica Meiners |
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