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d a " .� < ,, <br />` @ .., � k . <br />; L�.. ,� �:. � .�:�� <br />, .i.,,�;.�lY�':�"�i �i ���,�„��� �� �i <br />30849 FI1tsT STREE'I' <br />P.O. Box 298 <br />PEQuoT I.��s, MrrnvESO� 56472 <br />CLYDE C. AHLQUIST <br />ATTORNEYAT LAW <br />clede(cr�ahlouistlawoffice. com <br />March 13, 2013 <br />www ahlquisflawoffice.com <br />ATTORNEY CLIENT PRIVILEGED <br />Mayor Nancy Adams <br />Pequot Lakes City Council <br />4638 County Road 11 <br />Pequot Lakes, MN 56472 <br />Re: Conflict of Interest <br />Our File No. 25000.131 <br />Dear Mayor Adams and City Council Members: <br />TELEPHONE �ZZH� $6H-H4H1 <br />FnY (218) 568-8444 <br />PAUL J. SANDELIN <br />OF COUNSEL <br />naul anahlauisdawoffir.c.com <br />+�tJPY <br />I have been asked to render an opinion as to whether a disqualifying conflict of interest <br />exists so as to preclude a councilmember's official actions. Conflicts of interest oceur when a <br />public official puts his or her personal or financial interest ahead of the public interest, i.e. the <br />fundamental ethical rule is that a public official should not allow a conflict to exist between <br />personal interest and public duty. Conflicts of interest arise where the public official's duty to <br />make decisions or take actions may be reasonably perceived to affect their personal interests. <br />Those interests may be pecuniary, for example, a re-zoning decision that may affect the value of <br />land owned by the public official; or non-pecuniary, such as the interests of the official's family <br />or other close associates, or organizations to which the public official belongs. <br />C=er�erally, there are ±��ro br�a� categories ef confl?ets of interes±: those involving <br />contractual decisions, and those involving non-contractual decisions. This letter opinion is <br />limited to non-contractual decisions. <br />Any public official who has personal financial interest in an official non-contractual <br />action is generally disqualified from participating in the action. This rule does not apply to <br />interests held in common with the community; it only applies to interests that are reasonably <br />perceived to be material to the particular situation. An interest is material wherever there is a <br />reasonable perception that it will have an impact on a councilmember's actions. Clearly the <br />interest must be sufficiently real for the councilmember to be potentially affected by it, not just <br />merely hypothetical or an extreme possibility. <br />