Friday, July 5, 2002
|
Friday, July 5, 2002 |
|
PTC ethics board to hear complaint against councilman Thursday By JOHN
MUNFORD
The ethics complaint filed by former Peachtree City mayor Bob Lenox against councilman Steve Rapson will be considered by the city's ethics board Thursday, July 11 at 7 p.m. at City Hall. Lenox has complained about Rapson voting on several issues relating to the city's Development Authority since Rapson's wife is suing the authority alleging that she was unfairly paid based on her gender. If the five-member ethics board determines the city's ethics code was violated, it can decide either to admonish Rapson, administer him a formal reprimand or censure him publicly. If the last choice is selected, the board can recommend to council that he be removed from office, according to the city's ethics code. Any decision of the ethics board can be appealed to the City Council by Rapson if he so chooses. After council rules on the matter, Rapson also has the option of having the decision reviewed by the Fayette Superior Court if he wishes. The City Council chooses 10 candidates to serve as the "pool" for the ethics board and when an issue arises such as this one, five persons from that pool are selected randomly to hear the ethics complaint in a formal hearing. Earlier this year, each council member chose two city residents to serve on the board. The hearing will be open to the public, but due to the format of the hearing there won't likely be a place for the ethics board to accept public comment. While on other occasions Rapson has abstained from voting on Development Authority issues, he recently voted on two motions that resulted in council hiring a special attorney to investigate the propriety of contracts between the city and authority that were signed by Lenox last year. The special attorney was necessary since City Attorney Rick Lindsey was involved in the contract negotiation process. Rapson and councilman Dan Tennant allege that the contract Lenox signed was significantly different from the one they approved at the council meeting. But Lenox claims the changes Rapson and Tennant have complained about were in the contract that council authorized him to sign at the first council meeting in June of last year. Lenox's original ethics complaint against Rapson took on a nasty tone as he alleged that Rapson could financially gain by putting the Development Authority in a bad position. Rapson has said he felt compelled to vote to hire the special attorney because he authored the motion last June before his wife's lawsuit was filed to authorize Lenox to sign the contract with the Development Authority.
|
||