Advisory Opinion 96-10-1150
DDES/Board Membership

ISSUES: WHETHER IT IS A CONFLICT OF INTEREST FOR A DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR TO SERVE AS AN ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER TO A UNIVERSITY PROGRAM WHEN PERSONS WHO DO BUSINESS WITH HIS DEPARTMENT ALSO SERVE ON THE BOARD?

WHETHER THE DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR COULD APPEAR TO BE USING HIS POSITION WITH BOTH THE ADVISORY BOARD AND THE COUNTY TO INFLUENCE THE SELECTION OF A DEPARTMENTAL EMPLOYEE AS A SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT?

Opinion: The Board of Ethics finds no conflict of interest with regard to the director's service on an advisory board to an education program, because such service would not impair his independent judgement or ability to perform his official duties. The Code of Ethics does not prohibit professional interactions which serve to promote the public interest, and which only have an attentuated relationship to the official duties of a county employee.

The Board also finds no conflict of interest if the director sits on an advisory board to an educational program and a departmental employee applies for a scholarship to study in that program; provided, the director recuses himself from any involvement in the review and recommendation process for prospective applicants. The director should also refrain from endorsing the admission of any applicant from his agency.

Statement of Circumstances: The University of Washington Extension Program offers a variety of certificate programs designed to enhance or supplement continuing professional development. Each certificate program is designed by an advisory board of leading professionals and university faculty members. In this case, a King County department director responsible for the regulation of land use sits as a member of the board for the Commercial Real Estate Certificate Program, as do some local developers.

The certificate program in Commercial Real Estate is approved by the UW College of Architecture and Urban Planning and consists of three courses, "Introduction to Commercial Real Estate Development," "Key Components of Ongoing Commercial Real Estate," and, "Legal and Taxation Issues and Interdisciplinary Decision-Making in Real Estate." Topics within each course are broadly constructed to cover all aspects of commercial real estate development. In 1995, the director of the program solicited scholarship money to encourage higher enrollment from public sector employees. This year three scholarships were offered, and one of the recipients was a county employee in the director's department. The board has been asked to decide two questions:

1. Whether it is a conflict of interest for a department director whose department regulates unincorporated King County development to render service to an advisory board, when existing or potential clients of the department may also serve on this board? And,

2. Whether the department director could appear to be using his position on the advisory board to influence the selection of a department employee for a program scholarship?

Analysis: The Code of Ethics prohibits county employees from engaging in any act which is in conflict with the performance of official duties. However, K.C.C. 3.04.017(K) generally excludes governmental units of the State of Washington and the United States unless specified otherwise in the Code of Ethics. The University of Washington is a unit of the State of Washington; therefore, the only applicable provision of the Code with regard to service on the advisory board is K.C.C. 3.04.030(I). This subsection provides that a county employee has a conflict if he or she:

Engages in or accepts compensation, employment or renders services for any person or a governmental entity other than King County when such employment or service is incompatible with the proper discharge of official duties or would impair independence of judgment or action in the performance of official duties.

In determining whether the department director has a conflict of interest, the Board considers the primary purpose of the commercial real estate certificate program to be of importance. The purpose of the program is to enhance professional knowledge of the commercial real estate environment from the legal, regulatory, and development perspectives. Therefore, it would seem reasonable for the advisory board to include representatives from these areas. That the department director sits on the board with local developers does not in and of itself create a conflict of interest. Under K.C.C. 3.04.030(I) the Board cautions that the primary purpose of the Code is to prevent actual or apparent conflicts of interest that impair the public's interest, not to prevent professional interactions that might benefit this interest unless there is reason to believe a conflict might result.

Receipt of Scholarship by a Department Employee

The decision to grant public government scholarships was a mutual decision among members of the Commercial Real Estate Advisory Board and program instructors and the administrative staff of the University of Washington's Educational Outreach Program. The 1995 solicitation effort by the Commercial Real Estate Program Director result in enough funding for three scholarships. The Director of the Center for Community Development and Real Estate at the University of Washington selected a number of city, county and state agencies which were representative of the public sector target group and were also active in issues related to commercial real estate. The program received five applicants, and these applicants had to meet the same prerequisite standards as any other applicant to the program. The program director and a continuing education specialist reviewed applicant materials and rank-ordered the candidates. Three candidates were offered scholarships, including one from the director's agency.

Although it is customary for the advisory board to be involved in the review and recommendation process for prospective applicants, the only member of the board who performed these functions this year was the Director of the Center for Community Development and Real Estate. No other boardmembers were involved, including the department director, and the director forwarded applications from his agency without comment. Given the potential for the director's involvement in the admission review and recommendation process in the future, the Board advises that the director recuse himself from any involvement when employees from his agency are candidates for admission.

References: King County Code of Ethics, subsections 3.04.030(I).

ISSUED THIS ___________ DAY OF ___________________, 199__.

Signed for the Board: Roland H. Carlson, Acting Chair

Members:

Roland H. Carlson, Acting Chair
Rev. Paul Pruitt
Dr. Lois Price Spratlen
Lembhard Howell

cc:

Ron Sims, King County Executive
King County Councilmembers
Rella Foley, Interim Director-Ombudsman, Office of Citizen Complaints
Robert I. Stier, Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney and Counsel to the Board of Ethics