A County employee asks whether he may continue in his high profile County position while seeking County public office.

             If the employee is able to fully comply with the duties and obligations of his County position and completely segregates all campaign activities from his County employment, he does not have to resign in order to run for County office.

             A County employee who is contemplating running for County office serves in a position in which he is media spokesperson for his department. He plans to campaign for office in non-work hours. He understands that he may not use any County resources or his current County position to advance his campaign or his stature as a candidate.

Code Provisions

 

            Both County law and the Ethics Code forbid the use of County resources to advance partisan positions. New Castle County Code Section 26.01.019(B) states, in pertinent part:

 

1.     No employee in the classified or unclassified service shall, during regular working hours, take part in the management or affairs of any political party or in any political campaign or perform any service for any political party other than of an incidental nature to the official job description of the employee, except to exercise his or her right as a citizen privately to express his or her opinion and to cast his or her vote.

2.     No employee in the classified or unclassified service shall at any time use or attempt to use his or her position with the County as a means of implementing or promoting the solicitation of any assessment, subscription, contribution or service for any political party.

 

            The conflict of interest rule at New Castle County Code Section 2.03.103(A)(1) prohibits the use of official authority by a County official or employee "for the personal or private benefit of himself or herself, a member of his or her immediate family or a business with which he or she is associated."¹ The Ethics Code conduct rules at Section 2.03.104 A and D prohibit all County employees and County officials from creating even an appearance that they are using their "public office to secure unwarranted privileges, private advancement or gain."²

 

Prior Commission Opinions

 

            In Advisory Opinion 95-01, the Ethics Commission held that the Ethics Code did not impose a threshold barrier to a County official or employee becoming a candidate for election for political office, without indicating or distinguishing at which level of government the requesting party in that opinion wished to seek office. In Advisory Opinion 05-15, the Commission cautioned that if circumstances arise during the employee's candidacy which might create a potential or real appearance of impropriety, such circumstances, which could not be addressed in the abstract, should be presented to the Commission as soon as they arise.

             The prior opinions make it clear that an employee does not have to vacate County employment just because he or she is running for office. The unstated contention in this case is that a high profile County position may be different since it may unavoidably enhance a candidate's status over that of his competitors in the quest for County office. However, if such a contention were to be the rule, every elected incumbent would be forced to resign his or her office before campaigning for reelection, leaving the County without governance.

 

            A better rule is that the employee may maintain his or her position while running for office if he or she can reasonably fulfill the duties of the employment in the same manner as a non-candidate and he or she scrupulously avoids creating any appearance that the County position or any County resources are being used to advance the candidacy. That means that the employee must work all scheduled hours as required by the County, although use of vacation time and/or leaves of absence are appropriate if approved by superiors.³ Campaign activity and activity for the County must be completely segregated: no discussion of campaign activity during the workday of the candidate or during that of any other County employee, no political solicitations or distribution of campaign or fundraising materials in the County workplace or County offices unless part of a County sponsored presentation for all candidates, no use of County insignia or uniforms in campaign activities, no direct or indirect linking of County websites to campaign websites, and of course, no use of any County resources to benefit a political campaign.

 

            The foregoing list is not exhaustive. A candidate must be proactively vigilant to prevent any appearance in the mind of a reasonable person that his or her employment with the County is compromised by the candidacy. The Commission stands ready to assist the employee-candidate in this task when specific facts arise.

            If the employee is able to fully comply with the duties and obligations of his County position and completely segregates all campaign activities from his County employment, he does not have to resign in order to run for County office.

 

            In issuing this Advisory Opinion, the Ethics Commission is applying the New Castle County Code of Ethics, which establishes the minimum level of ethical conduct required of County officials and employees.

 

 

_______________________________

Thomas P. Collins, Chairperson

 

Decision: Unanimous