Wednesday, May 22, 2002
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Wednesday, May 22, 2002 |
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Ex-mayor accuses Rapson of ethics lapse By JOHN MUNFORD
Former Peachtree City Mayor Bob Lenox has filed an ethics complaint against City Councilman Steve Rapson, claiming he is using his position "to garner significant financial gain for him and his family." Lenox claims Rapson should not have voted at Thursday night's council meeting to seek a special attorney to investigate contracts the city entered with the development and airport authorities last year. The contracts specify how much hotel-motel tax revenues each authority will get to operate and pay debt for the tennis center, amphitheater and airport. Rapson's wife, Kristi, is a former development authority employee who has sued the authority alleging she was paid unfairly due to her gender while she served as director of the amphitheater. In his complaint, Lenox alleges Rapson "was in the forefront of formulating this issue and bringing it to a City Council vote." "Mr. Rapson is working, publicly and privately, to destroy the credibility of the development authority in an effort to force a monetary settlement of his wife's lawsuit on terms favorable to him and his family," Lenox wrote in the complaint. "... Mr. Rapson further seeks to cripple the development authority financially so they will be unable to effectively defend themselves in court against his wife's lawsuit." Rapson, who claims Lenox signed the contracts with council authority despite a significant change in the agreements, defended his ability to vote on the matter. "Lenox's actions were wrong. They need to be corrected," Rapson said in a written response to Lenox's complaint. "... I must make sure that the authenticity of the governmental process is preserved. Although Lenox is no longer an elected official and ethics charges cannot be filed against him in this matter, he needs to realize that he will be held accountable to the people of Peachtree City." Lenox also alleged in his complaint that Rapson wants council to regain control of the amphitheater from the development authority "so that he can engineer the rehiring of his wife as its director at an exorbitant salary." "Despite prior warnings and with utter disregard for the fact that he risks destroying the tennis center and the amphitheater in the process, Mr. Rapson is using his office to further his personal financial interests," Lenox wrote in the complaint. In his response, Rapson said some of the charges made by Lenox in the letter "are not worthy of a serious response." The City Council will convene a meeting of its ethics board by randomly drawing five names from the list of qualified citizens at its next regular council meeting June 6.
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