Two of the five candidates for City Council in Peachtree City are currently working for the city in their respective fields of expertise, records obtained at City Hall show.

The city is in the process of trying to obtain a legal opinion from its attorneys concerning how these relationships would be affected should one or both of the contractors win the election, according to city spokesperson Betsy Tyler.

Melvin Ewing, a candidate for the Post 1 City Council seat, is an engineer whose company has done or is now under contract for consulting work on various public works projects since 1996, including Holly Grove Church Road, the Wynnmeade connector, the Hip Pocket cart path, and sports field maintenance buildings.

According to city financial records, Ewing's company has received about $33,500 for his work during that time.

Ewing told the Citizen Wednesday that he does not see a conflict of interest while campaigning, but if he wins, he would certainly sever any business ties with the city.

Bruce Perlman, running for the Post 2 seat, is a physician with offices in Peachtree City and has been the regular provider of physicals and drug tests for city employees for several years. His office, Peachtree Internal Medical Associates, also handles workers' compensation claims involving city employees.

According to records provided by the city, Peachtree Internal Medical Associates has done $10,855 worth of workman's compensation cases for city employees during the past ten years, dating back to Jan. 1, 1990.

That is far from the majority of such cases, as evidenced by city records that indicate payments to Peachstate Orthopedics of $49,343 during the same time period.

Other records for drug screening and physicals involving city employees show payments to Peachtree Internal Medical Associates totalling $69,744.06 since 1992.

The other two Post 2 candidates, Dan Tennant and Chuck Lehman, both said that they have never done any business with the city.

Annie McMenamin, the incumbent in Post 1, is not involved in city business personally, but she has pointed out that she has a family connection that she watches carefully to make sure she does enter into a conflict-of-interest situation.

Her daughter is an attorney with Webb, Stuckey & Lindsey, the Peachtree City firm that handles legal work on behalf of the city. McMenamin said that when the City Council votes to reappoint the firm, usually every January, she abstains.

McMenamin also has a son-in-law who is with the Peachtree City Police Department, the result of a marriage earlier this year. She said that she would weigh heavily any specific salary issues or other things that could be construed as conflict, although she believes that participating in across-the-board decisions is appropriate. She plans to consult with city attorneys whenever necessary to make certain of that.

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