The Ohio Ethics Law and Non-Profit Organizations Recorded Webinar Transcript

[00:05] Hi everyone. My name is Susan Willeke and I work for the Ohio Ethics Commission, and it's my great pleasure to be able to talk to you a little bit today about the Ohio Ethics Law in general, but certainly also as it pertains to non-profit organizations. So for me, one of the most amazing things about having been in public service for so many years is to see the caliber and integrity of so many people who choose public service and who genuinely want to do the right thing. And I think what goes hand-in-hand with that is that there's so many people in public service at every level of government hired, elected, appointed, full-time, part-time, management, non-management, union, non-union that do their jobs and play out their public roles well. And as I said, with honor and with integrity.

[00:52] And in addition to those public roles also are active in their local communities. And this certainly can include non-profits of many types. This could be an organization that someone works with. They raise money, they volunteer. It could even be something, like their church or their temple, their mosque, where they do volunteer their time, their talent, their treasure. It could be a local non-profit, It could be something national, etc.. That’s, this is the kind of people that make up public service. But in fairness, when we do talk about people in public service, getting involved in the non-profit world, even in their private lives, there may be things under the Ethics Law that we want to pay attention to, that we want to be aware of, because, again, the better we understand the Ethics Law, the more equipped we are to actually be able to comply with it well.

[01:43] So this video may be 10 to 15 minutes long. So please understand as I go through some of the highlights that I’m going to talk about in this video, please understand this is not the totality of the Ethics Law. We could spend a whole semester in a law school just talking about the Ethics Law. This is just going to be the briefest dipping our toe into the ocean of information that we could talk about. At the end of this video, I will give you information on how to reach the Ethics Commission if you have follow up questions. But I'm also, most importantly going to give you our website.

[02:15] There is so much more on our website than what I can share in a brief video like this that will be so helpful in helping you understand, digest how the Ethics Law protects us, how the Ethics Commission has interpreted this law, how the Ethics Commission for the last five decades has opined on the Law and given guidance and advice. There is so much that already exists to offer guidance and advice to people in public service who also are involved in not for profit organizations in their private lives. Our search engine on our website is quite good. If you enter a few key phrases, even something like non-profit organization, you will see past advisory opinions, even factsheets, other e-courses that can help provide information on this important information, as it pertains to the Ohio Ethics Law.

[03:02] So I want to do in this video is just give you again, some of the few highlights that deal with Ethics Law issues and non-profits that come up often. This is again, just a little bit of information, but please feel free to reach out to us if we can provide you additional information that will be helpful. So one of the first things that I wanted to mention is just the issue of people using public time, public resources, to kind of further along things that are important to them. The Advisory Opinion that you see referenced on this slide is probably one of the top 2 or 3 Advisory Opinions that at least I send out or reference in speeches.

[03:44] This is a really common one that we email to people, that we reference. Now, in all fairness, this has applicability, not just with non-profits. This is an Advisory Opinion that we reference a lot. For example, if I were, let's say a township employee or a township official, and in my private life I have, you know, my proverbial underwater basket weaving business, that this Advisory Opinion would equally apply in that situation of, “Hey, while I'm the township employee or trustee,” that I cannot use township facilities resources, my responsibilities, I can't use my contacts, my influence. I can't use that public laptop, that public cell phone, that public vehicle to advance my private business, etc..

[04:29] This is a really common Advisory Opinion that we reference in those situations. When it comes for people who are also in the non-profit world, this also is utterly germane. That if this non-profit that you spend part of your time and your life on, that's wonderful. I wish you joy and success in that pursuit. But I also want to remind you that we are equally, as public employees and public officials, we are equally prohibited from using our public time, public equipment, all, it's just some of the things, that you see here on this slide, we cannot use those in our outside non-profit, that non-profit that I serve on that board that maybe I'm employed at part-time, maybe I do consulting work for that non-profit.

[05:09] I cannot use, in my situation a state laptop, the state vehicle, the state cellphone, copy machines. I can't work on my non-profit work on public time, etc.. That is equally applicable. All of the Advisory Opinions that I will be referencing in this video are certainly available on our website as well. So this is this is one of the ones that I send out the most often that I would ask you to be aware of. That, as wonderful as your non-profit work, I'm sure, is, it has to be done outside the realm of our public positions. We can't use, you know, our public title, our, that time, resources, equipment, facilities, etc. even for the most worthy of causes like that in our private lives.

[05:54] The next Advisory Opinion that I do want to point out here is, in all fairness, there there is a difference between being, let's say, on a board and being a volunteer for a non-profit. Now, going back to that Advisory Opinion that I just talked about, that doesn't mean, “Well, I'm only a volunteer with the, you know, this particular non-profit. So that means I could use public time and equipment!” No, no, no, that's not my point here at all. My point is that you will often hear the phrase “conflict of interest” when you're talking about the Ethics Law, as you should. That is a legitimate thing to be aware of, to watch out for, and to make sure that we don't act on our conflicts of interest.

[06:33] So, for example, let's pretend that I really am a state employee and I work for X, Y, Z state agency. And I also serve on the board of X, Y, Z non-profit. We are not suggesting those two things are mutually exclusive. “Oh. That's prohibited. We can't do that.” That's not what I'm saying at all. It is entirely possible that someone could legitimately and legally both work for this public agency and serve on the board of this non-profit. The thing to be aware of, though, is that there are times when there can be conflicts of interest.

[07:10] So, for example, let's say that I serve XYZ public entity that may actually regulate some of the activities of this non-profit, perhaps this non-profit sometimes consults, etc., that there could sort of be a connection between those two. This is not the message of “Hey, quick, everybody panic while there's still time.” What I'm saying is, if in fact, there ever is a conflict of interest, that there may be times when I might need to say, “Am I a volunteer? Do I do I merely show up for events? Or am I actually someone with a financial or fiduciary interest in that non-profit?”

[07:50] So, for example, let's pretend that I am, in fact a city employee of the city of Anywhere, Ohio and the city of Anywhere, Ohio does have regulatory authority, maybe over water or sewer lines or building issues or zoning over the non-profits and other entities in that community. So I'm, in this hypothetical, I am an employee for the city of Anywhere, Ohio, and I am a member, I'm a volunteer at XYZ church or this temple, etc. and I'm wondering, “Ooh, if I attend this church or this temple, am I still allowed to be part of the review of some water or sewer line for the city as it impacts that church or temple, etc.?”

[08:38] This is where this Advisory Opinion would be such a helpful one to review because in all fairness, if I am a mere member and I certainly do not mean that in the pejorative, but that really is my role. I attend this church, I attend this temple, etc.. That would not necessarily be enough for it to say I would be acting on a conflict of interest. If I'm reviewing this water issue or this sewer situation, or this building request from that church or temple before the city. If I really am simply a member. If I show up on Sundays or on Saturdays, etc., Friday nights, it doesn't mean that I'm now excluded.

[09:15] However, if in addition to being that public employee or public official, let's say that I serve on that board, I'm also an employee of that church or that temple, that mosque. I'm also an elder of that particular congregation. Now I actually have a fiduciary or financial interest. So again, my message here isn’t to plant so much concern that you feel like you can never volunteer. But it might be time just to give a little more information. And this Advisory Opinion would be a wonderful one to help you kind of decipher “Would I actually be potentially acting on a conflict?” Very often the answer is no, but that's something you want to know before you act on that matter, not afterwards.

[09:56] All right. So the next advisory, issue that I wanted to mention is this one. Public Contracts. You can kind of see from the list here of examples of what public contracts would be. Just FYI, as people in public service, we always need to be aware that all public expenditures, money spent by or for the use of a public agency, is in fact a public contract. This could be anything from, you see things here, it could be a multi-million dollar construction project, but it could also be, “Hey, you know, Ethics Lady broke her mouse and she wants a new one, and this is going to be, you know, $7.” It doesn't matter the amount of money. Public money being spent is a public contract.

[10:37] So what you and I need to be aware of as people in public service who may also volunteer or serve on boards of non-profits, etc., maybe even work for, do contractual work, consulting. We can never assist that non-profit, if I serve on the board of this non-profit, if I'm employed there part time, etc., I can never in my public role help that non-profit obtain a public contract, right? I can't be the person that says, “Hey, you know this non-profit that I serve? They really, really are trying hard to get this grant from our agency. Could maybe,” at my agency, “could I just explain to you why this grant is so important for that non-profit?”

[11:17] Do you see why that crosses the line of that I would be using my public position to try to get, in this hypothetical, grant money? Which is a public contract. Because public expenditures are public contracts. It doesn't necessarily mean that that non-profit cannot pursue that public contract. It does mean, though, that I certainly, as someone in public service, cannot in any way help them attain it, obtain it. Not just I can't sign off on it. This means I'm not recommending, advocating, lobbying behind the scenes, kind of doing some cheerleading for them. There would have to be a complete break in those two worlds.

[11:56] Now, in all fairness, there can be situations where it may be that I can't serve on this board, right? If in fact, this board is reliant on funding, on granting, if they get a grant that's administered by my agency, by my board. So here's what I would say. Again, I'm not trying to get everybody to panic and run away from their non-profits. I am involved in non-profit work in my private life. I do not want to dissuade anyone from doing those wonderful things in our private lives. But what I would say is, just do a little research in advance, check out our website, get the information so that you are confident moving forward.

[12:29] I know that that’s just so, so much information in a short amount of time, but there is one more Advisory Opinion that I wanted to mention. And that's this one. This issue of “official capacity,” just in case there's anybody out there right now, that's thinking, “Well, you know, one of my public roles is I am a city council member, and I was told we needed somebody to also serve on this advisory board, etc., as part of my job.” In all fairness, there are times when someone in public service is also serving on this XYZ board as part of their service, right?

[13:02] This could be something, let's say that I really am a city council person and they say, “Hey guys, we need somebody to serve on this non-profit that gives advice about how to spend the park dollars, etc. on these programs for low income kids in the summer, at the parks department. Please, please somebody volunteer. The charter says we have to have at least one city council person.” And you go, “Okay, fine, I'll do it. I don't have a lot of extra time, but I'd be happy to do it.” Right? You are, in that capacity, you are serving on that non-profit because of your public role.

[13:32] That's a little bit of a different situation. I don't want you to feel like that would be a situation where there be, insurmountable conflicts of interest. If someone is serving on this board because they were asked to because of their public role here, that's a little bit of a different scenario. It's a lot more complicated than that. There's a lot more that we could read in that Advisory Opinion, but I just want to make sure before anybody panic, just that you're aware that even that Advisory Opinion exists to help good people in public service do good things.

[14:01] Now, again, as I said when I started this about 15 minutes ago, that is a ton of information to digest in a short 15-ish minute video. But I hope what it did do, I hope it didn't confuse you, but I hope what it did do was maybe just pique your interest, that you're like, “That's really interesting. I didn't know they had these resources. I didn't know these Advisory Opinions already existed. I didn't know these were issues that other people in Ohio had asked at one point or the other. And they've been addressed already in writing to help you do the right thing.”

[14:33] As I promised, here's our phone number. But even more importantly, that's our website. So much information there to help you do the right thing in all of your years of public service in any capacity. Feel free to check out our website. Look at all the information we have. Again, Advisory Opinions going back 50 years. I have a fact sheets. We have newsletters, we have e-courses. If you can't find what you're looking for, we would certainly be able to help you. Feel free to call us, reach out to us. Just let us know how we can be of assistance, because at the end of the day, it really would be our desire to be able to advise and educate good people in public service, because that's what leads to ongoing good government.

[15:11] And it is the good people in good government that does lead to those kind of volunteering activities in the non-profit world anyway. So with that, thank you so much for all that you do. The fact that you even wanted to watch this video tells me that your heart is already in public service and on volunteering in your private life. It's our great honor to help you do that well with integrity and within the confines of the Ohio Ethics Law. Thanks again everybody. Have a great rest of your day.