Advisory Opinion No. 1993-16
Application Of
Revolving Door Laws To Department
Of Mental Retardation Regional
Residential Manager;
When
Contract Is Signed For Purposes Of
Gen. Stat. §1-84b(d)
Thomas Meehan, a residential manager for the Department of Mental Retardation, Region 5 (DMR), has asked how the Code of Ethics for Public Officials, Conn. Gen. Stat. §1-79 et seq., applies if he accepts employment as the executive director of a private agency which he helped to oversee while in state service. Specifically, Mr. Meehan served on the team negotiating the private providers 1992 contract with the state, chaired the regions placement committee, and oversaw the regions temporary staffing and quality assurance requirements, including processing capital improvement requests.
Taking the issue of the 1992 contract first, under Conn.
Gen. Stat. §1-84b(d), no former state employee who
participated substantially in the negotiation or award of a contract obliging
the state to pay fifty thousand dollars or more, or who supervised the
negotiation or award of such a contract, may accept a job with a party to the
contract other than the state for one year after leaving state service if the
contract was executed less than a year before the state employment is
terminated. Participation on a
negotiation team certainly qualifies as substantial participation under this
section. See Advisory Opinion No.
86-9, 48
Mr. Meehan has suggested that the operative date should be
In addition, of course, if Mr. Meehan is contemplating employment with a particular private provider, he should refrain from involvement in the 1993 negotiation process for any private agency, as well as avoid taking any official action which might benefit his potential employer. Such constraint will help avoid not only a problem under §1-84b(d), but also any possible problem under Conn. Gen. Stat. §1-84(c), which prohibits a state employee from using his office for financial gain.
Once Mr. Meehan accepts new employment, the remaining revolving door laws will apply. He may never use confidential information acquired in the course of and by reason of his official duties for anyones financial gain. Conn. Gen. Stat. §1-84a. He is also precluded from ever representing anyone other than the state concerning any particular matter in which he participated personally and substantially while in state service and in which the state has a substantial interest. Conn. Gen. Stat. §1-84b(a).
Finally, Mr. Meehan may not represent his new employer, or
anyone else, for compensation before DMR for one year after leaving state
service. Conn. Gen. Stat. §1-84b(b). Represent
includes personal appearances (such as attendance at meetings where DMR
representatives are present), phone calls, signing applications or other
correspondence, and including ones name on a letterhead. See,
e.g.,
Advisory Opinion No. 91-24, 53 Conn. L.J. No. 16, p. 1C (
By order of the Commission,
Christopher T. Donohue
Chairperson