Dunwoody City Councilwoman Adrian Bonser, who is facing an ethics investigation, filed ethics complaints of her own Thursday against Mayor Mike Davis and the rest of the City Council, alleging that two public meetings were held illegally over the past six months.
Bonser's complaint alleges the City Council held an illegal closed meeting Feb. 3 to discuss the sale of real estate, then met again last month without proper notice to discuss ethics charges against her.
Bonser has been named as a possible source of a leak from the February meeting in which city leaders discussed the sale and acquisition of property for a land development the city is co-sponsoring. City Attorney Brian Anderson, who was also accused of leaking the information, resigned last month.
The Georgia Open Meetings Act did not allow for discussions of the sale of city-owned land in closed session at the time of the meeting, the complaint states. The law has since been revised.
Discussions from that closed session, contained in a special investigative report, reveal that the city was contemplating selling portions of a 16-acre tract of land known as PVC Park to a developer who wants to build single-family homes and town homes on the site. The sale would be part of a complex land deal in which the city would buy other property with the proceeds.
The City Council presented and approved the deal at a public meeting earlier this month.
The complaint also names Anderson and City Manager Warren Hutmacher as having participated in the closed meeting.
The second complaint deals with a special called meeting May 29 in which, Bonser alleges, the City Council voted in closed session to file ethics charges against her. No public notice was given for the meeting, a violation of the state's Open Meetings Act, her complaint charges.
Bonser declined to comment about the filings.
Davis said he had not read the complaints and could not comment Thursday. He has stated in earlier remarks that he had been assured by legal counsel that the Feb. 3 meeting was proper.
Investigation into the February leaks have so far cost Dunwoody nearly $50,000 in legal fees. The city also agreed to a $29,000 settlement, equaling two months' benefits and pay, with Anderson upon his resignation.
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