The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us) STATE OF MICHIGAN FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL Opinion No. 6825 December 14, 1994 INCOMPATIBILITY: Member of a board of education and member of a city council A person may simultaneously serve as a board of education member and an elected city council member so long as the public bodies do not negotiate or enter into contracts with one another. Honorable Richard A. Young State Representative The Capitol Lansing, MI You have asked if a person may simultaneously serve as a member of a board of education and as an elected member of a city council. 1978 PA 566, MCL 15.181 et seq; MSA 15.1120(121) et seq (the Act), prohibits the holding of incompatible public positions and sets forth the criteria by which incompatibility is determined. The Act defines incompatible offices in section 1(b), as follows: "Incompatible offices" means public offices held by a public official which, when the official is performing the duties of any of the public offices held by the official, results in any of the following with respect to those offices held: (i) The subordination of 1 public office to another. (ii) The supervision of 1 public office by another. (iii) A breach of duty of public office. The Legislature did not define the terms subordination and supervision in the Act. Therefore, it is presumed that their commonly understood meanings were intended. OAG, 1993-1994, No 6816, p 189 (September 8, 1994); OAG, 1979-1980, No 5626, p 537, 541-542 (January 16, 1980). The first and second criteria for incompatibility do not apply. Each local school district is a public body corporate. MCL 380.1132(1); MSA 15.41132(1). Therefore, "[a] member of a board of education of a local school district performs his or her duties without subordination to, or supervision of, the city ... government within which the school district is located." OAG, 1979-1980, No 5626, supra at 545. Examples of breach of duty include representing two local units of government that are competing with each other for allocated millage or that contract with each other. An abstention from voting will not cure a breach of duty in these situations. Only vacation of one office will resolve the problem. Contesti v Attorney General, 164 MichApp 271, 280-282; 416 NW2d 410 (1987), 1v den 430 Mich 893 (1988); OAG, 1993-1994, No 6816, supra. Here, there is no competition between the two public offices for allocated millage. The school district and the city may enter into contracts. However, OAG, 1979-1980, No 5626, supra at 545, concluded: [T]here is nothing inherent in the duties of school board member or village trustee which would indicate that the performance of these duties by one individual would result in a breach of duty of public office. As long as the two public entities do not negotiate an agreement with each other, the public official serving both would not fall within the third criterion of the incompatibility statute. It is my opinion, therefore, that a person may simultaneously serve as a board of education member and an elected city council member so long as the public bodies do not negotiate or enter into contracts with one another. Frank J. Kelley Attorney General