Suppose you are hired as an independent contractor to manage a newly incorporated community of 7 00...........

 Suppose you are hired as an independent contractor to manage a newly incorporated community of 7,000 residents. The community is zoned almost entirely rural residential and agricultural. The town has a “council-administrator” form of government. With the blessing of elected city officials, you staff the city with personnel from your consulting firm, which includes your daughter as the town clerk and your wife as your assistant. The town’s attorney believes that you should not have hired your daughter and that salaries should be made public. After first refusing to make public your $114,000 salary, you change your mind.

In the meantime, the town’s attorney suggests that an opinion should be sought from the state ethics commission regarding whether the anti-nepotism law applies to contracted employees. Several months later, the state ethics commission renders an opinion that independent contractors are not public employees and therefore not subject to the state’s ethics law. Happy with this finding, you are even more delighted to discover that one of your employees drafts a four-page press release extolling you and your team as “new age” governmental leaders.

Discussion Questions

1. Are there ethical issues in this case, especially given that you are not subject to the state’s ethics laws?

2. If so, what are they?

3. Does this situation illustrate a significant loop hole in the law?

By: Rakesh Kumar Barik