American Planning Association Exam AICP Topic 8 Question 99 Discussion

Actual exam question for American Planning Association's AICP exam

Question #: 99
Topic #: 8

[All AICP Questions]

Scenario

You are a planner for a city planning department and you have an old friend who runs a planning consulting firm in the same city. Your friend submits a competitive proposal to work as a consultant for your department to you on Friday and while in your office, asks you to be her guest for dinner at a very fancy restaurant on Saturday evening. What might you do if you actually have no influence about awarding the contract?

AYou should worry about the appearance of a conflict of interest, even if the invitation for dinner is not intended to enhance your friend's chances of being awarded the contract (Rules of Conduct 5, 8, 19) Because you have no influence about the decision to award the contract, which would include having no professional contact with the decision-makers, you might have dinner with your friend, but it might be safer to postpone the dinner until after the contract has been awarded.

BYou should worry about the appearance of a conflict of interest, even if the invitation for dinner is not intended to enhance your friend's chances of being awarded the contract (Rules of Conduct 6, 8, 18) Because you have no influence about the decision to award the contract, which would include having no professional contact with the decision-makers, you might have dinner with your friend, but it might be safer to postpone the dinner until after the contract has been awarded.

Show Suggested Answer

Suggested Answer: A

by Jacklyn at May 04, 2025, 11:41 AM

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Tawanna

3 days ago

Oh, come on. It's just dinner, right? What, are you afraid the food is going to bribe you or something? Relax, dude. Just have a good time and stop overthinking it.

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Corazon

4 days ago

I don't know, man. If you've got no influence on the decision, why not just enjoy a fancy dinner with your friend? As long as you're not actually trying to sway the contract, I don't see the problem. Lighten up, folks!

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Felix

22 hours ago

B) You should worry about the appearance of a conflict of interest, even if the invitation for dinner is not intended to enhance your friend's chances of being awarded the contract (Rules of Conduct 6, 8, 18) Because you have no influence about the decision to award the contract, which would include having no professional contact with the decision-makers, you might have dinner with your friend, but it might be safer to postpone the dinner until after the contract has been awarded.

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Nadine

2 days ago

A) You should worry about the appearance of a conflict of interest, even if the invitation for dinner is not intended to enhance your friend's chances of being awarded the contract (Rules of Conduct 5, 8, 19) Because you have no influence about the decision to award the contract, which would include having no professional contact with the decision-makers, you might have dinner with your friend, but it might be safer to postpone the dinner until after the contract has been awarded.

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Mari

4 days ago

That's true, but it might be safer to postpone the dinner until after the contract has been awarded.

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Tricia

7 days ago

But if I have no influence on awarding the contract, maybe it's okay to have dinner with my friend.

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Stanford

9 days ago

I agree, it's important to be cautious in these situations.

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Mari

11 days ago

I think I should worry about the appearance of a conflict of interest.

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Fatima

15 days ago

Hmm, this is a tricky one. I'd say it's best to avoid the dinner altogether, just to avoid any potential issues. Better to be safe than sorry, you know?

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Walton

1 months ago

I think we should be cautious about even the appearance of a conflict of interest here. Better to postpone the dinner until after the contract is awarded, just to be on the safe side.

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Louann

12 days ago

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Frederica

14 days ago

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