CARTERSVILLE -- A Superior Court judge will rule by Tuesday in the case of a Marietta City Council candidate who wants his opponent, incumbent Van Pearlberg, removed from the Nov. 3 ballot.
Bartow County Judge Corey Nelson, who was appointed to hear the case when all Cobb County judges recused themselves, heard arguments Friday. That was the first day of early voting in the Marietta election.
Wes Godwin said Pearlberg has a conflict of interest because he works as senior assistant district attorney in the Cobb Judicial Circuit while holding the council seat. The Cobb Elections Board rejected Godwin's complaint last month, and Godwin appealed to Superior Court.
Nelson directed pointed questions to Pearlberg's lawyer, Tom Cawthorn, noting a Gwinnett County grand jury is investigating the Gwinnett County Commission over a series of property purchases. Nelson wondered how a similar case would be handled if it involved a city council with an assistant district attorney holding a seat.
“Which master does he serve?” Nelson asked. “Explain to me how that is not an inherent conflict of interest that is irreconcilable.”
Cawthorn noted grand juries don't have wide-ranging oversight over municipal government, though the juries can investigate "specific crimes" by city council members or city employees.
Cawthorn argued that Pearlberg should be able to run because nothing in state law or the state constitution prohibits it. The attorney general has issued several "unofficial" opinions in similar cases, but the issue has never been heard in court, Cawthorn said.
Godwin’s lawyer, Doug Chalmers, noted other situations that might be conflicts of interest, such as the district attorney’s office validating city bond proposals, investigating city police corruption or approving salary supplements to the district attorney’s office.
Chalmers said nobody accused Pearlberg of wrongdoing, but he wanted to address the potential for conflict of interest. A criminal investigation of a city council, for instance, would "potentially place the employee on both sides of the investigation."
Godwin wants the Ward 4 election postponed if Pearlberg is not taken off the ballot.
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