The same day Cobb County’s Board of Ethics dismissed a complaint against four commissioners for their votes in favor a new Atlanta Braves stadium, a new ethics complaint was filed against Commission Chairman Tim Lee.
The new complaint, filed late Wednesday, alleges Lee committed eight ethical violations in relation to his handling of the Braves deal, which commits $300 million in public money toward construction costs of the new stadium. The public financing commitment was approved by a 4-1 commission vote in November, with little public input and no referendum.
A Cobb resident and attorney, Gary Pelphrey, filed the complaint. Among the alleged ethical violations:
- Lee violated the Open Meetings Act by allowing commissioners to be briefed on aspects of the Braves deal in groups of two, so as to avoid a quorum, which would have opened those meetings to the public.
- Lee allowed a preliminary agreement with the Braves, called a memorandum of understanding, to be changed after it was published as part of the commission's agenda booklet to be voted on that night.
- Lee held a public hearing on the creation of a special taxing district in the Cumberland area after Gov. Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency because of a winter storm.
- Lee favored business interests over taxpayer interests by secretly negotiating with the Braves. "His secret negotiations with non-governmental entities to enable them to purchase and assemble a massive real estate parcel without making the county's intentions public, clearly favored his associates over legal, taxpaying citizens of this county," the complaint alleges.
Lee did not return a phone message seeking comment.
The separate complaint dismissed Wednesday was filed against Lee and district Commissioners Bob Ott, Helen Goreham and JoAnn Birrell. It alleged the commissioners violated their oaths of office in approving the memorandum of understanding and voting in favor of creating a special taxing district that will generate a large portion of the money needed to pay for the stadium.
Commissioner Lisa Cupid is not named in the complaint because she voted against both proposals.
Walter Moon was the only member of the seven-person ethics board who voted against dismissing the complaint, which was filed in March by persistent commission critic Larry Savage.
Ethics Commission member Darrell Sutton said Savage might have a case, but it needed to be pursued in a court of law and not in front of the ethics board. That was a common opinion on the board.
“We are not vested to pass judgement on these matters,” member Doug Shaddix said. “These are all points of law.”
Savage said the board “skipped over” its responsibilities.
About the Author
Dan Klepal is editor of the local government team, supervising nine reporters covering county and municipal governments and metro Atlanta. Klepal came to the AJC in 2012, after a long career covering city halls in Cincinnati and Louisville, Ky. He has covered Gwinnett and Cobb counties before spending three years on the investigative team.
