(I)STATE OF ALABAMA

ETHICS COMMISSIONMAILING ADDRESS

P.O. BOX4840MONTGOMERY,AL

36103-4840

STREET ADDRESS

RSA UNION100 NORTHUNIONSTREET

SUITE 104MONTGOMERY,AL 36104COMMISSIONERS

Camille S. Butms, ChainnanHelen Shores Lee, Esq., Vice-ChainnanJohn H. Watson

Lewis G. adorn, Jr., Esq.Russell Jackson Drake, Esq.

James L. Sumner, Jr.Director

Hugh R. Evans, IIIAssistant Director

General Counsel

TELEPHONE (334) 242-2997

FAX (334) 242-0248

January 13, 1999

ADVISORY OPINION NO. 99-07

Craig L. WilliamsAttorney at LawMullins & Williams2600 Sixth StreetTuscaloosa, Alabama 35401

Conflict Of Interests/Director Of CountyDepartment Of Planning And CommunityDevelopment Administering CommunityDevelopment Block Grant For MunicipalityIn The Same County.

The director of a County Department ofPlanning and Community Development mayadminister a Community DevelopmentBlock Grant for a municipality within thesame county, when the county is not eligiblefor the Community Development BlockGrant, and where the county has no planningauthority within the city's jurisdiction;provided, all work regarding the CDBGGrant is done on his own time, whetherafter-hours, weekends, annual leave, etc.;and, that no county equipment, facilities,time, materials, human labor or other countyproperty under his discretion or control isused to assist him in gaining the opportunityor in administering the CDBG Grant.

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Craig L. WilliamsAdvisory Opinion No. 99-07Page two

Dear Mr. Williams:

The Alabama Ethics Commission is in receipt of your request for an Advisory Opinion ofthis Commission, and this opinion is issued pursuant to that request.

QUESTION PRESENTED

May the director of a County Department of Planning and CommunityDevelopment work strictly on his or her own time as the administrator of aCommunity Development Block Grant which has been approved for amunicipality within the same county, where the county was not eligible for thegrant funds?

FACTS AND ANALYSIS

Farrington Snipes is the director of Planning and Community Development forTuscaloosa County. He has been offered an opportunity to administer a CommunityDevelopment Block Grant (CDBG) for the Town of Northport, which is located in TuscaloosaCounty.

The grant is available under a state operated program that the State of Alabama took overfrom the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The program is divided intothree categories of grants, one category for small municipalities, one category for largemunicipalities and one category for counties.

This grant is available under the category set aside for large municipalities.

All money under the grant is handled by the State of Alabama and there is no countyinvolvement with the grant, either through money passing through the county or in administeringthe grant.

As director of the County Department of Planning and Community Development, Mr.Snipes has no official jurisdiction within the City of Northport. His jurisdiction ends where thecity's jurisdiction begins and he does no planning or community development on behalf of thecounty within the City of Northport.

In certain circumstances, when a developer wishes to develop a sub-division outside thecity limits, but within the city's planning jurisdiction, the plat is also approved by the countybecause of the overlap of jurisdiction through a mutual cooperation arrangement. In these

Craig L. WilliamsAdvisory Opinion No. 99-07Page three

situations, Mr. Snipes states that he has a county planner who interacts with the city on behalf ofthe county and, as a routine matter, he will approve the plat on behalf of the county.

The Alabama Ethics Law, Code of Alabama, 1975, Section 35-25-5(a) states:

"(a) No public official or public employee shall use or cause to be used his or herofficial position or office to obtain personal gain for himself or herself, or familymember of the public employee or family member of the public official, or anybusiness with which the person is associated unless the use and gain are otherwisespecifically authorized by law. Personal gain is achieved when the public official,public employee, or a family member thereof receives, obtains, exerts controlover, or otherwise converts to personal use the object constituting such personalgain."

Section 36-25-5( c) states:

"(c) No public official or public employee shall use or cause to be usedequipment, facilities, time, materials, human labor, or other public property underhis or her discretion or control for the private benefit or business benefit of thepublic official, public employee, any other person, or principal campaigncommittee as defined in Section 17-22A-2,which would materially affect his orher financial interest, except as otherwise provided by law or as provided pursuantto a lawful employment agreement regulated by agency policy."

Section 36-25-1 (8) states:

"(8) CONFLICT OF INTEREST. A conflict on the part of a public official orpublic employee between his or her private interests and the officialresponsibilities inherent in an office of public trust. A conflict of interest involvesany action, inaction, or decision by a public official or public employee in thedischarge of his or her official duties which would materially affect his or herfinancial interest or those of his or her family members or any business withwhich the person is associated in a manner different from the manner it affects theother members of the class to which he or she belongs."

Section 36-25-2(b) in pertinent part states:

"(b) An essential principle underlying the staffing of our governmental structure isthat its public officials and public employees should not be denied theopportunity, available to all other citizens, to acquire and retain private economic

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