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Brown denies violating state ethics lawThu, 12/01/2005 - 4:16pm
By: John Munford
Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown has denied any ethical wrongdoing relating to the state ethics complaint filed against him by Direct PAC, a political action committee. The complaint alleges that Brown should have filed a campaign disclosure report indicating that he received an in-kind contribution from Comcast Cable after his views opposing Fayette County’s transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax were broadcast last year on a Comcast local cable channel. Direct PAC’s complaint specifically notes that Brown was identified on the broadcast as Mayor Steve Brown, not merely as a citizen. Brown’s response, which he provided to The Citizen last week, is seeking an administrative dismissal of the complaint without any formal action by the commission. Brown has been notified that all such hearings are open to the public, according to a letter from C. Theodore Lee, executive secretary of the state Ethics Commission. The response to the ethics complaint, authored by attorneys H. Michael Dever and Bonnie L. Keith of Atlanta, states that Brown wasn’t charged by Comcast, and he asked to have the segment aired to rebut the “informational forum” on the SPLOST that was broadcast by the cable outlet on behalf of the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce. “Because Brown was acting solely in his individual capacity and not in his capacity as mayor of Peachtree City, the broadcast did not constitute an in-kind contribution for purposes of the Ethics in Government Act,” Dever and Keith wrote. Brown is paying for attorneys to represent him in the matter; the city is not footing that legal bill, he said. Direct PAC indicates in its complaint that a tape of the show clearly displays text that identifies Brown as mayor of Peachtree City. The group also argues that even if Brown were acting solely as a citizen and not as mayor, he would have violated the law for not filing as a committee or individual opposing the SPLOST. Brown opposed the SPLOST because the county commission voted in favor of it just before a new law went into effect that would require Peachtree City to get a larger share of the SPLOST. He argued that if the SPLOST was necessary, the county commission could bring it up again the following year under the new law’s guidelines. Brown’s detractors on the issue noted that the county commission would not be required to author a second SPLOST resolution in 2005, particularly if the initial SPLOST proposal were to be voted down. As it stands, Peachtree City will get an estimated $12 million from the SPLOST, which was narrowly approved by voters. Brown’s official answer to the Direct PAC complaint includes an affidavit from Andy Macke of Comcast Cable, which indicates that he instructed an employee to remove the “character tag” that referenced Brown’s official role as mayor before the viewpoint was broadcast. Macke added that Comcast did not edit Brown’s broadcast, and it was played on an “empty” channel, and as such did not displace existing programming. login to post comments
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