Advisory Opinion 91-11-1035
Division Head/Spouse COI

ISSUE: WHAT MECHANISM SHOULD BE IN PLACE TO APPROVE THE CONSULTANT SELECTION PROCESS WHEN THE DIRECTOR OF A KING COUNTY DEPARTMENT HAS A CONFLICT OF INTEREST?

Opinion: The King County Board of Ethics would suggest that a mechanism which establishes a significant barrier addressing the apparent conflict of interest problem of the Director of the Parks Planning and Resources Department would be for her to:

Refer any and all contract proposals received from University of Washington's Cascade Center directly to the office of the King County Executive.

Statement of Circumstances: The Director of a King County Department has disclosed that an agency which her husband chairs has been chosen to conduct training for personnel in her department.

FACTS

• The Director is in charge of the King County Parks Planning and Resources Department.
• The husband of the PP&R Director is the chair of the University of Washington's Cascade Center for Public Service and is a professor in the University of Washington's Graduate School of Public affairs.
• Prior to 1991, the Center was funded by a large state grant and tuition revenue. Because the grant was not renewed this year, faculty associated with the Center actively market the programs.
• The King County Parks Planning and Resources Department has sent personnel to the University of Washington's Cascade Center of training.
• The PP&R Director, upon recent recommendation from the King County Ombudsman has since assigned the Deputy Director in consultation with Parks, Planning and Resources Division managers to make training decisions.

Analysis: The King County Code of Ethics makes it a conflict of interest when an employee substantially participates in a decision to award a contract in which he or she is beneficially interested.

It is the Director in each of King County's thirteen Departments who holds the final authority to approve any and all agency consultant selections for bid awards less than $10,000.

On the basis of what the King County Board of Ethics has learned, the Department Director has recently appointed the Deputy Director to create a "barrier" in the Division's consultant selection process.

The King County Board of Ethics is concerned with the effectiveness of the existing "barrier." Whether or not the Director participates in the consultant selection process, the Director would remain the supervisor of the Deputy Director or any other employee in his or her division designated to make a decision in a consultant selection process. Therefore, the Board believes that a more significant barrier must be erected.

AUTHORITY RELIED UPON

3.04.030 Conflict of interest. No county employee shall engage in any act which is in conflict with the performance of official duties. A county employee shall be deemed to have a conflict of interest if the employee directly or indirectly:

B. Is beneficially interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract, sale, lease, option or purchase that may be made by, through, or under the supervision of the employee, in whole or in part, or accepts, directly or indirectly, any compensation, gift or thing of value from any other person beneficially interested therein;

E. Participates in, influences, or attempts to influence, directly or indirectly, the selection of, or the conduct of business or transaction with a person doing or seeking to do business with the county if the employee has a financial interest in or with said person;

ISSUED ON THE ___________________ day of ____________________, 1991

Signed for the Board: Dr. J. Patrick Dobel, Chair

Members:

Timothy Edwards, Esq.
Dr. Judith Woods
Dr. J. Patrick Dobel, Chair

JPD:dwm

cc:

Tim Hill, King County Executive
King County Councilmembers
Bob Stier, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney
Rella Foley, Ombudsman, Office of Citizen Complaints