PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The potential appointment of Eva-Marie Mancuso, the chairwoman of the state Board of Education, as a $200,000 "interim commissioner of higher education'' has put the spotlight on the state's "revolving-door'' ban.
Simply put: the state's Ethics Code bans Rhode Island politicos from making the leap directly from an elected or appointed position to a well-paid job on the public payroll, until they have been out of office at least a year. The rule is known as: 36-14-5006.
The Ethics Commission can grant a waiver, but only in cases where "denial of such employment or position would create a substantial hardship.''
It remains unclear what arguments Mancuso will raise, to make her own case for an exception. Some have succeeded; others not. Here's a look at two cases:
In a 1995 case, the ethics commission said yes to the temporary appointment of a member of the Commission on Women. Judith A. Babcock, requested the opinion in her role as the chair of the women's commission, and said Monday she wasn't asking for herself, but served for a time as "both Chair and unpaid Executive Director because there was no one in that position.''
In deciding that case, the commission noted it had granted a hardship exception before "where a job vacancy does not attract a number of applicants or where only a few uniquely qualified individuals are available to fill a particular position.''
The commission decided there was "sufficient evidence of hardship to warrant an exception'' during the search for a permanent replacement.
Among the special circumstances: "the commission has been without a full-time executive director for over six months...the commissioner will serve as Interim executive director only until the commission completes its search for a permanent replacement, a sixth-month period and the hiring process for the executive director will be an open and public process.''
In a 2004 case, however, the commission said no.
The question at hand was whether Robert K. Griffith, who had been serving on the state Water Resources Board - as the director of administration's designee - could become general manager of the Water Resources Board.
Within its decision, the commission quoted these observations from an earlier Rhode Island Supreme Court case: "In general the purpose of revolving-door provisions is to prevent "government employees from unfairly profiting from or otherwise trading upon the contacts, associations and special knowledge that they acquired''.
"We agree...We also believe that the inequities sought to be avoided by [Regulation 5006] exist regardless of whether the board member is a direct ex officio appointment, or whether he or she holds that position as the designee of someone else.''
"In this matter, the commission does not dispute the petitioner's qualificationsfor the position of General Manager of the Water Resources Board,'' the ethics commission said. "However, for a hardship to exist there must be some evidence that there is a dearth of other qualified individuals interested in the position.''