DeKalb Board of Ethics cancels hearings against commissioners
The DeKalb County Board of Ethics isn’t able to consider cases against two county commissioners because two seats have remained unfilled for months.
Board Chairman John Ernst canceled a scheduled meeting Monday because too few board members could attend. The board lacked the required quorum of four out of seven members needed to do business.
The board had been scheduled to hold a final hearing involving Commissioner Stan Watson, who voted twice to award a $1.5 million contract to a company that was paying him for consulting. A preliminary hearing was planned to determine whether there was probable cause to move forward with a complaint that Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton allegedly misused her county purchasing card for personal gain.
Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May hasn't yet appointed replacements for two vacant Board of Ethics seats. Board member Robert Blackman resigned in March after telling a county employee to "come outside" during an argument, and Bobbie Kennedy Sanford stepped down in May without giving an explanation.
Two remaining board members were unable to attend Monday’s meeting.
About the Author
Mark Niesse is an enterprise reporter and covers elections and Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.
