Friday, July 26, 2002
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Friday, July 26, 2002 |
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PTC mayor cites self for violating ethics rules, apologizes in letter By JOHN
MUNFORD
Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown is apologizing for apparently violating the city's ethics ordinance Wednesday morning as he tried to juggle his tight schedule. The "violation" occurred when Brown faced a scheduling conflict: his daughter was due at a local golf camp at 9 a.m. but he had to be in a meeting at 8:30 a.m., according to a letter Brown wrote to City Manager Jim Basinger. Brown's assistant, Gloria Reid, offered to take his daughter to the camp and Brown took her up on it, he wrote. The meeting, which involved negotiating Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) revenues with Fayette County and its municipalities, was important to attend, Brown noted. "Needless to say, under the pressure of trying to make everyone happy, I had a lapse in judgment and failed to see the broader implications of having Ms. Reid take my daughter to the camp," Brown wrote in the letter. Brown cited a section of the city ordinance that forbids city officials and employees from using city personnel, property and services "for personal gain or for any purpose other than the official business of the city." Brown says in the letter that he will reimburse the city for the wages from Reid's time in transporting his daughter to the camp. "I would like to ask for forgiveness from the people of Peachtree City and give you my assurance that I will do my best never to get in a similar situation," Brown wrote to Basinger. Brown has also sent a memo to city department heads and chiefs asking them and any city employee to "speak up" if they see a possible ethics violation in the making such as this one.
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