What’s left of the DeKalb County Ethics Board appears to be plowing ahead, despite questions about its legality, five empty seats, and — most recently — a petition from former board chair Alex Joseph asking the state to eject one of the two remaining regular members and both alternates.
Notice went out Thursday afternoon that the board intends to hold a special meeting Monday to select an “interim chairperson” and hire new lawyers. It says the March 16 regular meeting is canceled, and the next will be held April 20.
On Friday Joseph filed a petition with the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Office to remove current board members and alternates. In it she accuses regular board member Rosa Waymon and alternate members Bill Clark and Cathea Simelton-Treminio of noncompliance with state laws, concealing corruption, unbecoming conduct and breaching public trust.
“Respondents (Waymon, Clark and Simelton-Treminio) have signaled an intention to act illegally before the vacancies are filled despite lacking the requisite quorum under board rules,” Joseph wrote. “Respondents are likely to interfere with the vacancies by nominating their own political allies and lobbying the appointing delegations. Even if they do not, their affiliation will deter qualified candidates from filling the vacancies in the first place, or will lead to ongoing dysfunction.”
She said the board’s two staff personnel fear retaliation, and that members won’t recuse themselves from legal decisions in which they have conflicts of interest.
Joseph said she was undermined and treated with disrespect as board chair. She alleges that remaining members violated open meetings law by talking business without a quorum.
Joseph does not ask for the last regular board member, Nadine Ali, to be removed. She said she doesn’t know that Ali has done the same things as the others, but at this point may be party to evasion of laws. Joseph also casts doubt on whether Ali is legally qualified to serve on the ethics board. Joseph suggests that several appointments may have been politically motivated, “which is highly concerning for an ethics board.”
Calls and emails to the remaining members and alternates Friday were not promptly returned.
Heads of the DeKalb County state legislative delegation and two county officials put out a call Thursday for nominations to fill the ethics board’s five vacant seats. Nominations will be taken at appointment.dekalb.ethics@gmail.com. They should include a resume and brief statement of the nominee’s interest in the board.
The board’s internal disputes led to the resignation of five regular members over the last few weeks. The board’s general counsel Bonnie Levine quit too, citing conflicts with the remaining members.
State Sen. Kim Jackson, D-Stone Mountain, and state Rep. Karla Drenner, D-Avondale Estates, issued the call along with DeKalb County Clerk Debra DeBerry and Tax Commissioner Irvin Johnson. Those officials can make appointments to the board. Of the remaining members, one was appointed by the legislative delegation, one by the tax commissioner, and both alternates by the superior court clerk.
Jackson and Drenner said they were “disappointed to read recent press coverage” about turmoil and resignations on the board.
“Because the Board is an independent agency, our only role here is to fill the vacancies,” they said. “Therefore, we are actively seeking nominations for candidates to fill the five vacant positions. We look forward to filling these positions in an expedient manner and expect all board members to return to their very important work in good faith.”
The volunteer board was on hold for more than two years due to a 2018 lawsuit challenging how members were appointed. The board was reconstituted in 2021 but stalled again when its longtime chief ethics officer quit in February 2022 and was not replaced until October.
Joseph resigned in mid-February, followed quickly by members Candace Walker and David Moskowitz. Their resignations came after Joseph’s failed attempt to remove alternate member Bill Clark, whom she accused of insulting behavior. Joseph also objected to frequent use of executive sessions for discussion.
In his resignation Moskowitz urged other members to quit, and Shawanda Reynolds-Cobb and Candace Rogers resigned too.
That leaves only Ali and Waymon as full members, with Clark and Simelton-Treminio as alternates. Board rules say alternates can only temporarily fill seats as appointed by the board chair — and the chair’s position has been vacant since Joseph’s departure, making it an open question as to whether remaining members can legally consider themselves a quorum.
On Feb. 28 Levine, then still general counsel, told staff to cut off the remaining board members’ official email access to “prevent irreparable harm from your calling a meeting or giving the staff illegal instructions.” She resigned March 3.
Since then those email accounts have apparently been restored; the notice of Monday’s meeting was sent to them.
The board also faces a federal lawsuit and civil rights complaint from its former deputy ethics officer LaTonya Nix Wiley, alleging racial discrimination and retaliation.
At Monday’s meeting, to be held via Zoom as the board has done for some time, the agenda includes discussion of finding a new general counsel and also outside counsel “for pending litigation” – such as Wiley’s lawsuit.
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