Wednesday, July 31, 2002

I am writing this as a letter of apology to the citizens of Peachtree City and to officially cite myself to the Ethics Board for a violation of the ethics code of Peachtree City that took place the same date of my writing this letter, July 24, 2002.

Section 62-86 of the Peachtree City Code, entitled "Use of city property," states, "No official or employee shall use or permit the use of any city property, services, personnel, labor or other thing of value for personal gain or for any purpose other than the official business of the city. Any parties violating this provision shall be required to pay to the city a sum equal to the value of the benefits received, and shall likewise be deemed to have violated the provisions of this article."

I, unfortunately, did violate this section of the code and I humbly apologize to my constituents.

My 6-year-old daughter is participating in golf camp the week of July 22 and the children meet at Braelinn Golf Club from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Unfortunately, today (Wednesday) I had a scheduling conflict of massive proportions in that the first Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) negotiation meeting was this morning at 8:30 a.m. Thus, since my wife would be out of the city the entire morning, I was not going to be able to get my daughter to Braelinn Golf Club.

My assistant, Gloria Reid, offered to take my daughter to the Braelinn Golf Club so that I could make the LOST meeting. Since my daughter adores Ms. Reid and the fact that I felt uncomfortable leaving a 6-year-old at the Golf Club an hour prior to the camp, having Ms. Reid take my daughter seemed like a good idea.

Obviously, I would not be writing this letter if it had been not a poor decision on my part. I forsake my children often enough while handling my official duties and I am the person in charge of negotiating the 10-year LOST agreement on behalf of Peachtree City, Fayetteville, Tyrone and Brooks. The LOST is a major part of all the Fayette municipalities' budgets.

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.

At the LOST meeting, the Peachtree City manager informed me that Ms. Reid taking my 6-year-old to the camp was possibly an ethics violation. Seeing the validity of his claim, I immediately turned myself in via this letter at 11 a.m. the day the violation occurred.

In addition, I have sent a memo to all PTC department heads and chiefs requesting that if they have knowledge that some matter might potentially violate a city policy or the ethics ordinances that they should come forward immediately. Doing this might have prevented me the embarrassment of having to write this letter.

Because I admit to being in violation of the ethics ordinance, I will, without hesitation, reimburse the city for wages from Ms. Reid's time taken to transport my daughter.

Finally, I would like to ask for forgiveness from the people of PTC and give you my assurance that I will do my best never to get in a similar situation.

One of our local pastors gave me an index card that I have taped to my computer monitor that reads, "Do what is right. Do your best. Care about people." Hopefully, my actions via this official acknowledgment help me live up to the inscription on the index card.

Stephen D. Brown

Mayor, Peachtree City

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